A Matter of Love or Death
by jaishxxxxx
Summary: Bella Swan sold her body to the doctor who was treating her severly ill mother. However, when Bella falls in love with another, she knows she needs to escape her fake marriage. Fast. But How? Rated M for dark adult themes, language and lemons.
1. Chapter 1

**Hi guys! This idea came to me really suddenly, and I just had to write it down! **

**Warning: References of sexual slavery acts.**

**Disclaimer: The characters do not belong to me, however, the plot does!**

**Enjoy!**

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"Bella! Bella! Isabella fucking Denali, get your bitch ass over here now!"

I sighed, and set down the tea towel I had been drying dishes with, walking towards the voice of my lovely husband. I could hear him stomping around, occasionally slamming things on the ground. I entered the lounge and saw his angry figure pacing the length of the room, cursing under his breath.

"I have been calling you for ages you bitch!"

"Sorry, James, I couldn't hear you," I mumbled, hoping he would believe the lie.

"Like hell you didn't!" shouted James, as he paced over to me, in three short, angry strides, grabbing me by the base of my skull and pulling my face within inches of his. "You are my wife, and I expect you to fulfil that duty 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, whenever I need you! Not when it suits you!" he gave a sharp tug on my hair. "I have had a long and tiring shift, and I need some relaxation, not your stupid antics!"

I yelped with surprise, as he pulled again. "Quiet, bitch!" he commanded. "On your knees!"

I took a deep breath, knowing what was coming next, as I fell to my knees before him. I eyed his tent, disgusted. Disgusted with him, for being turned on through something like that, but mainly disgusted by myself, disgusted by the levels I had sank to.

I gently brushed my hands over his tent, closing my eyes and taking another steadying breath. I heard his breath hitch, and then become faster. I slowly pulled the fly of his chinos down, one tooth at a time, before pulling them down far enough to allow me access, doing the same with his boxers, until his prominent erection was inches away from my face. I trailed my finger lightly along the underside of his dick, before massaging the head. I heard James' low, guttural moan, as his hands found their way back into my hair. I took him completely in my mouth, and began swirling my tongue around the head, trying not to think about what I was doing. I moved my tongue down the shaft, trailing my teeth along the underside, as his breathing increased and he continuously moaned my name. My name sounded dirty coming from his mouth, plagued.

I suddenly increased the speed, and began fucking him with my mouth, managing to fit his whole length in my mouth at once. He wasn't as big as he thought. I kept going, until I heard his moans increase in volume, and I felt him cum, short, hot ribbons in my mouth, until he twitched one final time, and then was limp and empty in my mouth. "Every last drop, Isabella, every last drop..." he moaned, as I swallowed, before licking him clean and tucking him back in gently, grimacing at the disgusting taste that now lingered in my mouth.

I stood up, as James watched me, a smile on his lips. He looked tired, but his eyes were full of a fire, one that I knew all too well. "See Isabella, was it really too hard to act like a wife?" he walked past me, back towards the front door, turning to face me as he reached it. "I am going out, I will be back late. Don't wait up," and swept out of the house.

Shaking, I sat down on the couch, on the verge of tears, but refusing to let any fall. I was strong, I had been for the last six months; I wasn't going to give up now.

I took a steadying breath, and stood up, still feeling a bit unsteady, as I walked upstairs to brush my teeth and rid my mouth of the disgusting flavour. I stared at myself in the mirror, and saw this pale, lifeless woman staring back at me with empty eyes, her normally pallor skin stained red with shame.

"Soon," I thought, "Soon Renee will be better, and I will be free."

"Isabella, Isabella," I heard a husky voice call out from next to me. I smelt the vodka on his breath before I saw him.

"Good, you're awake!" he cackled, as he pulled down my pyjama bottoms, and stuck his hard dick, already covered with a condom, into my dry vagina. I gasped, feeling highly uncomfortable, as James continued to pump in and out of my dry-as-a-bone region, pulling my shirt up, and biting down on my breasts, hard. He slammed in and out, again and again, harder each time, and biting down with more force as he came closer to his climax. "Isabella...mmm, you feel soooo gooooood...your tight, tight _TIGHT _pussy, dripping and ready for me, you little whore...my little whore", he grunted out against my skin, as I lay, still, motionless.

He moaned out, louder, as he continued to slam into me, until he finally came, and slowed down, riding out his orgasm. He lay there, inside me, with his head nestled between my swollen breasts, breathing heavily, as he fell asleep on top of me, suffocating me with his weight.

He had already started round two, while I was still asleep. I felt him moving inside me, heard him grunting, felt him pinning my arms above my head, and smelt the sheen of sweat between us. I opened my eyes, and glanced at the clock. 5.32am. James continued pumping, until he came, and then withdrew, and walked towards the bathroom to get ready for work. I heard the shower start, and tried hard not to cry, as every part of my body ached.

Soon, he walked back into our room, showered, dressed and shaved, and gathered his things he would need for work. "When I get home tonight, I expect you ready in bed for me. Fully naked, wearing only a pair of killer heels, and blindfolded. Got it?"

"But James, I feel really sore today-"

"Get over it whore. You sold yourself to me, to pay for your mother's treatment. I can just as easily stop that treatment, and your mother can go back to being how she was before- dying," James said in a menacing voice, before leaving for work. I sighed, and turned over, to look at the clock. 6.03am. I would have to get up now anyway, for work. I got up, and walked over to the bathroom, and started the shower, brushing my teeth at the same time.

I stripped off, and stood in front of the mirror, assessing the damage today. My breasts were covered in bruises from being bitten at, pressed, and squeezed. My forearms were covered in bruises, literally, and hurt every time I moved. My thighs had angry hand shaped bruises as well, and my vaginal lips were swollen to twice their normal size. The back of my neck was all purple.

I stepped into the shower, feeling the warm water trickle over me. I washed my hair, and soaped my body. When I opened my eyes after removing the shampoo, I looked down. There was a long trickle of blood, going from my vagina down past my knee. And it was not my period.

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	2. Chapter 2

"Hi James," I said pleasantly as I entered his office.

"Edward," he said, giving a nod in my direction.

"I need you to sign some paperwork for me," I said, putting the huge sheath of papers on his desk.

"And for what am I signing, exactly?" James asked in a cool voice.

I swallowed. "The joint ownership of the hospital. We had a deal James, and you are not backing out of it," I said, calmly and confidently.

"And what makes you think I will agree to this? After all, you can't sue me- you have no evidence the agreement exists. Nor can you force me to sign over half of the rights to the hospital to you," James replied, sounding amused, as he pulled the papers towards him. Suddenly, he picked them up off the desk and threw them at me.

"We will discuss this over dinner," James snidely answered, no longer sounding amused but bored. "Tonight, at my house, 7pm. Bring wine. Ask my secretary to write down my address for you. My wife is the best damned cook in the world; you have to sample her food."

"But tonight-"

"Now or never Cullen. If you can't make it tonight, I can't make it forever. Your loss."

"I'll cancel," I muttered, grabbing the papers and going into his secretary's office through the conjoining door. I could hear James talking still.

"Bella, I have a guest tonight, make dinner. Don't worry about what I said this morning to you. We will be there by seven, and I expect you to be dressed and dinner on the table." _Jesus, did he think his wife was his slave? Lazy fucker. _

At 6.55pm, I drove up to a beautiful looking house, a two story detached house, surrounded by a garden. It had a wrap around porch, with several seats and a porch swing. The house was white, and clean, with honeysuckle climbers.

I walked tentatively up the path running up the centre of the pristine green grass, clutching an expensive bottle of wine in my hand, alongside the papers.

I lifted the expensive looking knocker on the white door, and almost instantly James flung the door open, his arms outstretched as if to embrace me.

"Edward," he said as if greeting an old friend. "Come in," he ushered, closing the door behind me, as I admired the large hallway in front of me. He led me through a door, into a dining room, and motioned for me to sit at one of the places that had been set on the long mahogany table.

"Bella! Bella!" he shouted as we sat down.

"Coming," I heard a soft voice call, and moments later a beautiful woman walked in. She was about 5'4 inches tall with a figure women would kill for. She had soft, shiny looking hair cascading down her back, her chocolate locks brushing her mid back. She had deep, penetrating brown eyes, eyes that I would happily get lost in any day. She was dressed casually, in a knee length white eyelet skirt, and a sky blue fitted kimono style blouse, showing off her milky skin in a classy and beautiful way.

"Stop is Edward," I told myself, "she is married."

She walked in carrying two plates of food, and smiled at me.

Holy fucking shit, I think my heart just stopped working. I smiled back at her, and she blushed slightly.

Beautiful.

"Hurry up," James barked, as she put down the plates in front of us, and left again, her kitten heels tapping against the wooden floor.

I started eating, not even registering what I was eating. Whatever it was, it was amazing. I don't think I had ever eaten anything like it.

"Where did you get the food from James?" I asked. It was way too good to be home made.

"Bella made it," he answered smugly as I gaped at him.

"Wow," I managed to say, my voice full of admiration. This Bella had so much talent it was unbelievable.

We ate in an awkward silence, and I was just putting my last, divine mouthful in my eager mouth, when James spoke.

"Bella!" James barked again. "Dessert!"

I frowned. This man spoke to his wife as if she were a servant he had purchased, rather than a wife he had married for love. He had no idea how lucky he was to have such a calm, loving wife. Any other woman would have left him by now.

Bella walked in again, her eyes fixed on the plates in her hand.

"I don't expect to have to wait so long. You should know what I expect by now Isabella," snarled James. The little fuck.

I saw something flare up in Bella's eyes, a spark of something. It was only a quick flash, so I couldn't be sure. But it looked just like anger. As soon as it came, it was gone again, and Bella's shoulders slumped as she left the room, taking the dirty dishes with her.

"So, about the papers James," I began.

"Ah, yes," James said, picking them up and examining the front page, before giving a large scrawl across it and flinging it at me.

"You don't want to read it?" I asked, confused.

"Edward, you are a cautious little shit. I highly doubt you would put anything other than we agreed in the papers," James said in a self satisfied tone. "I was ready to sign them this morning when you asked me. I just thought I would let you sweat a little. After all, I don't want people thinking James Denali is a pushover, do I now?"

I felt slightly angry at this declaration; I had missed a patient appointment because of this creep.

_I feel sorry for his wife._

Poor woman has to spend her whole life with him.

Although, she didn't seem totally at ease around him, the way that a wife should in the presence of her husband. She moved timidly, and in a reserved manner. She acted so cautiously. And there was something strange about the way James spoke to her; like she was a slave, rather than a wife. And they didn't act like a couple. Bella had hardly spoken directly to James. There was something strange about their marriage, but I couldn't put my finger on what it was.

And it was really annoying me.


	3. Chapter 3

**Hi everyone! I have been really blown away by the reader stats for this story, I had no idea this many people would be interested! Thank you to all my readers, and this quick upload is my way of saying thank you! **

**Also, I have had so many people add this story to alerts and favourites, that you have no excuse for not reviewing! Even if you don't like it, please drop me a review so I know how I can improve.**

**This is just a short chapter that shows some of Bella's duties and obligations towards James, and the way she has to earn enough money to care for her mother (Keep reading to find out what is wrong with her).**

**Disclaimer: All characters belong to Stephanie Meyer, but this plot is all mine!**

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**BPOV**

"Bella!"

I heard James call for me as soon as Edward left, and he swaggered into the kitchen not long after, the smell of alcohol strong on his breath. He wrapped his drunken arms around me, and leaned into me. "Fuck me," he breathed, the reek of the booze fanning over my face.

"But-"I began, but he cut me off.

"Now," he growled, rubbing his hands over my boobs. "I'm coming up in ten minutes. Today, I will let you choose how you go about your job. But remember- the harder I orgasm, the more money goes into your mothers medical fund."

I turned and ran up the stairs, loathing what I had become.

I stripped down, and put on a black lace, see through bra and panty set, with red fuck-me heels and a red satin kimono nightgown. I paused for a moment, and decided to take off the panties, so I was bare under the robe in that area. I reached into a drawer, and got a bottle of lubricant out.

I took a generous handful, and rubbed it into my slit to make it more convincing for James. Today I was going to make him beg.

I put the bottle on the nightstand behind the lamp.

I quickly fluffed up my hair. I could hear him coming up the stairs.

I grabbed a black blindfold and stood behind the door.

James staggered in, calling me, and I slipped behind him and put the blindfold on him, making as little contact as I could. I trailed my hands up his sides and over his chest as he let out a small groan. I undid the buttons of his shirt, still standing behind him. I threw the shirt away, and moved my hands to the buckle of his belt.

I slowly stripped him down to just his boxers, his breathing hitching slightly and the groans growing more frequent.

I moved in front of him, and took his hand in mine, leading him over the bed and slightly pushing him so he was lying face down on the bed, and pulled his boxers free, so he was completely naked in front of me.

I trailed my hands up and down the backs of his calves, and started massaging his shoulder as he moaned beneath me. I paused for a moment, to apply some more lubricant while he couldn't see, and then straddled him, moving about slightly to make him aware of the wetness.

"Fuck..." he moaned. I continued to massage him for a while, and then turned him over, intending to pay special attention to his cock now.

I moved my hands along the shaft, applying slight pressure as I moved.

I suddenly put it in my mouth, and started licking it, and swirling my tongue around as fast as I could.

"FUCK! BELLA! FUCK..." James yelled, his voice laced with pleasure. He was about to come, I could feel it...

So I pulled off his dick, leaving him panting and writhing, as I straddled his stomach, teasing him with my entrance.

I moved my hands along his chest, pinching at his nipples, before taking them in my mouth and biting down on them lightly.

"Bella, please...please," James panted.

"Hmm? What's wrong James?" I asked innocently, as I grazed the tip of his cock along my slit.

"I need...need..." James groaned out, on the verge of explosion.

"You want your cock deep in my hot, _aching, _wet pussy?" I asked sexily.

"Yes...please."

"Can you smell that baby? Can you smell what you do to me? Can you feel it?" I asked him, feeling disgusted, and cheap.

"It's for Renee," I kept chanting in my head. "Renee, Renee, Renee..."

James nodded furiously.

"I don't think you do," I smirked.

I slid my body up along his, leaving a trail of the lube along his body, and positioned myself over his face. His tongue darted out to taste me. I internally shuddered and pulled myself away.

"Did I say you could taste?" I asked him, scolding him.

I moved back down to his level. "Now taste," and James' tongue eagerly lapped up the lube. The fucker was so drunk he couldn't tell it was lube.

I felt dirty. And cheap. "Renee, Renee..."

I slid back down his body so I was lying on top him, face to face. I gave him a deep kiss and felt his hands travel up my body.

I guided his hands and helped him undo the gown. His fingers played with my bra for a while, before chucking it aside and palming my breasts and nipples.

His hands then wandered down to play with my clit, and I pulled away before he noticed I didn't get any wetter when he did this.

By now James was a groaning, writhing mess on the bed. Without warning, I impaled myself onto his cock as he screamed out in ecstasy.

"BEELLAAAAA! RIGHT THERE, DON'T STOP! SHIT!"

I continued to ride him, deep and hard, until I finally let him come, screaming. I swear, he was almost sobbing out loud.

I lay down on him, my head on his chest, and we lay like that for a few minutes, regaining our breath. I reached up and took off his blindfold and saw his clear blue eyes staring down at me.

"Wow," he murmured. "That was the best fucking orgasm of my _life!"_

I gave a weak chuckle, and lay down next to him. He put his arms around me, trapping me.

I hated what I had become. But I had no other choice.

A solitary tear trailed down my cheek.

I let it fall.

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**Review please! The more reviews I get, the soooner I will update again!**


	4. Chapter 4

**It's Monday again, so here is the next chapter!**

**Thank you to all of my readers and those who put my story on alert!**

**This chapter contains a bit about Bella's life outside of James, and some background information on her life.**

**Please Review! Anyone who reviews within the next three days ( by Thursday), will have a preview waiting in their inbox on Friday afternoon for them! Anyone who reviews after Thursday, will get a preview for next week's chapter! All previews will be sent out on Friday.**

**Disclaimer: Stephanie Meyer owns Twilight (unfortunately) and all of the characters, but this plot is all mine!**

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EPOV

"So how did it go with James?" asked Emmett, sitting in my leather swivel chair, his feet propped up on my desk.

"Well, he signed it," I said while filing my patient records.

"So you own half the hospital?"

"Yep."

"How was your date with him?" Emmett smirked.

"Pretty uneventful, I like to at least get a peck on the cheek on the first date," I joked. "But seriously, it was weird. He didn't talk much, unless he was yelling orders at his wife as if she is his slave. He seems to treat her like a slave as well; the house was spotless, the food spectacular and she was dressed like a proper housewife. I don't think she works, she can't have time in between the cleaning and cooking."

"Bella? Yeah she works," said Emmett, biting into the apple which was for my lunch.

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah, Bella Denali. She works at the little bakery next to my office. I buy stuff from her every day; I'm one of her regulars. She's lovely, and a fantastic cook."

"And you never thought to mention this?" I asked indignantly.

Emmett shrugged. "What would have been the point?"

"Does she seem happy?" I asked, confused.

"Yeah. Why?"

"Well, her and James don't really have a very...you know..._spousal _relationship."

"Spousal? Is that even a word?" Emmett sniggered.

"It is now," I replied. "He treats her like a slave, not a wife, and she acts like he's her master, like he has a weird _hold _or something on her. It doesn't seem like a genuine marriage."

Emmett shrugged again. "She seems happy enough at the bakery." He checked his watch. "Want to pay her a visit?"

"How come I never noticed this place before?" I asked.

"Maybe you should open your eyes once in a while Eddie," Emmett snorted.

We were stood outside a small building, made from small ochre stones. It had three stone steps leading up to it, and large school windows on either side of the door, there were trails of purple flowers, similar to bougainvilleas flowing over the sides of the windows, and over the railings of the stairs. It seemed to have two floors, however the top floor looked to have only one room, as the roof sloped upwards into a point, and the shop was so small anyway.

We entered, and a small bell chimed. The most fantastic fragrances assaulted my senses.

On the right hand side, a long counter ran down the whole length, about ten metres, and beneath the counter was a long glass cabinet, which was curved slightly outwards. In this were various cakes, buns, rolls, pastries, all looking mouth wateringly delicious. On the left, were a collection of small wooden tables, with two chairs around each.

At the moment, it was fairly empty, except for a few people who were sitting and reading the paper while drinking a coffee or eating a pastry.

Behind the counter, stood a woman with her back to us, she seemed to be wearing an apron over some black trousers and a green blouse. Her silky hair was tied up in a ponytail, and she seemed to be rolling something out on the back counter, where there were rows of jars lined up.

"Hey, Bella!" called Emmett, and the woman turned round, and I think my jaw literally hit the floor when I caught realised who it was.

"Hi Emmett," she replied in a friendly voice, as we approached the counter. "Edward, wasn't it?" she asked me with a smile.

"Yes," was my brilliant reply. "I didn't know this was your bakery," I added, trying to redeem myself.

She gave a musical laugh, looking beautiful as she did so. " Yep, this place is my baby. So what can I get you gentlemen?"

Emmett looked around. "It's not too busy today for once."

"No, you just missed the breakfast rush. It's almost ten am now, most people are at work."

"Oh, that's right," added Emmett, as if he already knew this. I shot him a look.

"Why don't you pick for us?" Emmett asked. He turned to me. "She does this thing, it's like magic, she picks something that she thinks you will definitely like, or you are in the mood for."

Bella laughed again, blushing slightly.

"Mind if we watch?" Emmett asked.

"Course not," Bella replied, and she turned around and started working.

She set two cups over by a coffee machine on the back counter, and started it, as hot streams of liquid poured out of it. She then turned and picked up two luncheon plates and set them over by us. From the front cabinet, she then selected a strawberry tartlet, sprinkled with pistachios, and a Danish pastry with some kind of dark jam in the middle of it, and set each one down on a plate. By now, the drinks were done, and she brought over the cups, and placed them next to the plates.

"Don't forget the icing sugar!" Emmett sang playfully, as Bella laughed.

She turned around again, and reached up to a shelf to get the icing sugar from a small silver tub. As she reached up, he sleeve fell back a little to expose her forearm.

It was covered in fading blue and purple bruises, going around her arm. There seemed to be four long ones, and another slightly shorter bruise next to them. Shaped exactly like a hand.

She turned around again, as me and Emmett exchanged worried glances.

"One blueberry Danish crown and cafe macchiato for you Emmett, and a strawberry tartlet for you Edward with a mocha," she said whilst sprinkling the icing sugar over.

"Bella, what happened to your arm?" Emmett asked her gently.

She looked panicked for a second, but hid it quickly.

"What's wrong with my arm?" she asked, turning around and starting to roll out some pastry.

"The bruises," Emmett replied.

She didn't answer.

"Was it James?"

"What? No! Of course not!" she said. "I hit it on the door the other day, you know how clumsy I am," she said, giving a fake little laugh. "Try your food!"

We both started eating to satisfy her; the food was good. _Really _good.

"Bella, cut the crap. The bruises are the shape of a hand. Who was it?" she didn't answer Emmett's questions, and continued rolling.

"Why are you with him Bella?" I asked softly. "You obviously don't love eachother like a husband and wife should, anyone can see that. What's the reason?"

"I love my husband very much!" she exploded. "Just because we don't show it all the time, doesn't mean we don't! Don't assume you know anything about me!" she was facing me now, and her face was flushed and her eyes danced with anger.

"It was James, wasn't it?"

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	5. Chapter 5

**Here's the next chapter, and it's even a day early!**

**Thanks to all of reviewers, and please keep reviewing for previews of the next chapter!**

**Disclaimer: Twilight and the characters belong to the one and only Stephanie Meyer, of whom I am extremely jealous, but this plot is all mine! (evil cackle)**

**Enjoy!**

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BPOV

_Shit._

"No," I replied, feeling angry. "I told you, I hit it on the door the other day!"

Edward watched my face carefully, gauging my face as I said this. "You are a shit ass liar," he said calmly, as though he was just telling me the weather. I felt the blood rise to my cheeks.

"I am not lying," I said through clenched teeth, and turned to finish rolling out my pastry.

It was silent for a few seconds. I turned around again to see why it had suddenly gone quiet, and caught sight of Emmett and Edward having a silent conversation through their eyes, Emmett's narrowed warningly at Edward, and Edward's challenging emeralds glaring back at him.

I coughed, to let them know I could see them. They both looked at me as if they had been caught doing something bad, and instantly started shovelling the food in their mouths.

"This is great Bella!" said Emmett with his motuh full, and a big fake smile plastered on his face.

"Yeah, fantastic!" said Edward, his mouth equally as full and his smile twice as fake, and far too angelic for my liking.

I narrowed my eyes at him. "What are you planning?" I asked him, my hands on my hips.

"Nothing," he said, shrugging and giving me that innocent smile.

I gave him a long calculating look, and he held my gaze, still shoving the food down as fast as he could.

Suddenly, they both shot up and got their wallets out. "Hey, where's the fire?" I joked, still suspicious.

"Nowhere!" they both said, fumbling around their wallets.

"Don't worry about that," I said, waving my arms casually. "On the house today. Emmett keeps me in business anyway," I joked.

"Thanks Bella," they said, pocketing their wallets and running out as fast as they could. I smiled, amused.

Looking forward to Emmett's next visit; I had a new cookie recipe I needed testing by my faithful tester.

I didn't have to wait long however; Emmett came running back in, and grabbed his jacket off the chair which he vacated seconds ago, and ran back out, upsetting a stack of magazines and newspapers on his way out.

He bent down to pick them up, only to bash his head against the table and knock over the coat stand. "Don't worry about that!" I called, as Emmett tried to put right his mess, causing more havoc in the process.

"Thanks Bells!" he hollered, as he ran out, leaving my other customers wide eyed, and me in hysterics.

Emmett McCarthy sure knew how to make my day.

I absentmindedly started humming as I rolled out the pastry, wondering what was going on with the two guys. They had been acting suspicious to say in the least, especially after they saw the marks James had made on my arms during his passionate fucking.

_Oh my god. Could they suspect James had left the marks; intentionally, and that he was abusing me? _

I realised I had stopped rolling.

_Of course not. And even if they had, what would they do about it?_

I tried to calm myself down, and stop jumping to conclusions. Of course they wouldn't do that.

By I had an uneasy sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach.

I was just pulling up on the sweeping driveway, when I saw James' sleek black car already parked in it's usual spot.

I glanced at the digital radio display.

_17.57._

James was home a whole hour and a half early. I frowned, confused. James never came home early. Maybe he was sick, and got sent home early?

I parked my car, and let myself into the house. It was quiet. Too quiet. There was an eerie calm hanging over the house.

"James?" I called.

"In here," he answered calmly, the voice coming from the study.

I entered the study, feeling like a naughty schoolgirl who had been summoned to the principal's office. James was sitting in his black leather chair, with the back facing me.

I rolled my eyes. He was so dramatic sometimes.

"Yes?" I asked, surprised at the steadiness of my voice.

He turned his chair around (I had to stop myself rolling my eyes at this cliché), and I gave a sharp intake of breath.

James had fresh bruises beginning to form all down the left side of his face; his lip was spilt and he had trails of dried blood down his face. There was a lump beginning to form at his temple, and the front of his shirt was ripped. He gave me a grim grin, and winced at the pain it caused.

"What happened to you?" I gasped, taking a step towards him.

"Don't tell me you didn't know about this Isabella," James said, a strange sort of grim pleasure lacing his voice. "Your little boyfriend?"

I stood by his chair, running my hands comfortingly through his hair. I stopped at this comment.

"What boyfriend?" I asked, confused.

"Edward fucking Cullen," James spat out. "He decided to pay me a little visit today, around noon, and accused me of abusing my wife." His fists were clenched, and I felt scared.

I felt as if someone had knocked the wind out of my sails. "Shit. He came to the bakery today, and I was getting a jar off the shelf and my sleeve slipped to show the marks from when we had sex the other day. I told the fucker I walked into a door!"

"Yes, he told me," said James. I was starting to feel a bit afraid. He was deathly calm. Suspiciously calm. "I am not annoyed at you Bella," he declared softly. "I know you would never say anything, would you?"

His hands were gripping tightly into my forearms, digging in uncomfortably.

"Of course not James," I said, and he loosened his grip. I grabbed his hand, and lead him upstairs to the bedroom, and sat him down on the edge of the bed. I grabbed a first aid kit that I had for my numerous trips and falls, and a bowl full of warm water with cotton wool.

I nursed James' cuts, and wiped the blood away from his face, and removed his shirt, gasping at the bruises on his stomach and the hand shaped marks on his neck and shoulders.

I winced every time James did, hating the pain I caused him. I hated James sometimes, but he had been good to me, extremely good. Not many men would pay for the medical treatment of a stranger's mother.

I helped James change into pyjama bottoms, and lay him down in our bed, leaving his shirtless. "What do you want for dinner?" I asked him softly.

"Why don't we just order in today? We can watch a movie?" James asked, seeming nervous, compared to his usual confident self.

I smiled, "That sounds great," and James broke into a relieved smile. I ordered a pizza, and then went into the bathroom to change into some yoga pants and a tank top.

As we lay together that night, wrapped up in each other's arms, laughing at the romantic comedy and kissing in the romantic scenes, I couldn't help but think about how things could have been different if we had been a normal couple. If we had met and married through normal circumstances. James was lovely all night. He didn't order me about, or demand sex. We just had a normal couple's night in, and I prayed that James' mood would last.

But it didn't. And two days later, I _did _become a victim of domestic abuse.

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	6. Chapter 6

**Hey guys, sorry for the delay, but my internet has been down this week, so I have been unable to upload the next chapter :(**

**Too make up for it though, I am posting two chapters this week, one today and one towards the middle of the week, probably Wednesday, so don't forget to review this chapter quickly for a preview for the next chapter!**

**As always, a huge thank you to my readers and reviewers, and keep reviewing!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own the characters, but this plot is all mine :D**

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EPOV

"Edward, are you mad?" Emmett demanded, after I finished telling him. "Why didn't you come to me first? Hell, why didn't you even tell me? It's been three days, you should have at least told me!" Emmett was in full rant mode now.

I took a huge gulp of my Piña Colada, downing the whole drink in one, and gazed over to the dance floor where bodies were swaying together in the dim lighting and warm air.

"Did you even think of the consequences for her? What he could do to her?"

"No, I fucking did not think, Ok? All I saw was an innocent woman being treated like a slave and human punch bag, and I will not stand aside and watch while it happens to another woman!" I exploded. "I used to see the marks on my mother when her boyfriend used to bash her around, and look where it got her! She stayed with him, and nobody helped. Oh, by the way, how many times have you heard her tell that tale? Hmm? Never. Because she never got the fucking chance. She was six foot under by the time anyone decided to get involved. And if you think I will watch someone else treated like shit, like she was, you need to see a counsellor!"

Emmett was silent for a moment. "Did you ever think, just for one moment, maybe he didn't do it? That she was telling the truth?"

"No, I didn't. I didn't spend all those years training to be a psychologist because it was a good way of a party. She was lying, Emmett, I could see it in her eyes." I paused. "She is a shit liar," I chuckled.

"Ok, well look at it this way; you work with that motherfucker. What are you gonna say when you have to face him tomorrow? 'Hey James, nice shiner! By the way, have you signed that paperwork yet?'

I scowled at him. I knew I shouldn't have told him.

"Okay, enough of this crap. What's done is done", called another voice.

"Yeah, chill Eddie," another voice giggled.

I turned back to Emmett in disbelief. "You told them?"

"Yeah he told us! You think my brother can beat up his business partner, and I don't hear about it?" Alice giggled again, and stumbled as Jasper caught hold of her.

"Time for shots!" called Emmett, interjecting quickly, asking a waiter to bring a round of tequila.

I lost count at six shots, and I couldn't remember anything past that.

I opened my eyes and squinted at the bright light coming in. My mouth was dry and parched, and my head was pounding like a motherfucker. I rubbed my eyes with the heel of my hand and stretched my arms out, and felt my elbow come into contact with something hard.

"Fuck!" I spat, the same time as somebody else shrieked out in pain.

I rolled over and came face to face with a pixie like face, with short tousled black hair. I shot up like a bolt, as Alice groaned, and turned over again.

"It's only you, that's ok," said Alice sleepily, already dozing off again.

I suddenly felt nervous, noticing I had no shirt on.

"Alice, what the fuck is going on?" I demanded.

"Well, you got caught by the club attendant getting blown by some random girl in the male toilets," she said, sounding tired but still amused. I felt my face go tomato red.

"And..."

"And I told the guy you had had waayy too much to drink, and on top of that you forgotten to take your meds, so you were clueless."

"And..."

"And that's it, what else did you want me to say?" Alice sounded irritated now.

"Maybe why I am in a bed, shirtless with you?" I suggested dryly.

"Ohh, that. Well we were all pretty drunk, so we got you home, and I was helping you to your bed while Emmett and Jasper were dancing to Britney Spears. Your shirt stank, so I took it off for you, and you conked out on the bed. Then, I must have fallen asleep as well."

_Oh. Thank God for that._

"Why, what did you think had happened?" she asked, turning back to face me, slyly. "Are you _that _much of a man whore?"

"No!" I said, my face red hot. "Britney Spears, huh?" I asked, a grin covering my face.

"Toxic," said Alice smugly, as she went back to sleep. I got out of bed, intending to get a few Tylenol. I left the bedroom, and walked into the living room when I saw it.

Jasper was lying on my couch in just his boxers and a bra. I didn't want to know where the bra came from. On his stomach were the words 'I am pussy whipped', and someone had drawn a rather crude picture on his head. Let's not even go there.

I could hear banging from the kitchen, and walked in to find Emmett making pancakes. "Hey Eddie boy!" he said cheerily.

I frowned at him. "Aren't you even hung over a little tiny bit?"

"Nope," he replied, grinning.

"But you had the same amount as me!"

"Well, what can I say? I am just too good."

"In your dreams," I replied, the noise of the pans ringing in my ears.

"By the way, Alice will kill you. We need to take some pi-"

"Already done, and on facebook as his profile picture," Emmett was practically bouncing with joy.

"How-"

"I got him to tell me his login details while the idiot was drunk last night." I had to hand it to him; he was good.

I rubbed my head, reaching for the medicine cabinet, when we heard a shriek from the living room, followed by hysterical laughter.

Alice came into the kitchen, clutching her sides, making me and Emmett join in. She motioned to us to follow her into the living room, and put her hand against her mouth to stifle her laughter as she grabbed her purse, and began to work, me and Emmett in silent peals as she did.

By the time she was finished, Jasper's eyes had been made 'smoky' with eye shadow, mascara and eyeliner, his nails painted blood red and his face covered in what Alice called 'bronzer powder'. He was wearing a fresh coat of fuchsia lip gloss and was clutching a tampon.

Emmett took another photo an uploaded that one as well, using his iPhone.

"I'm quite surprised he didn't wake up," said Emmett, when we were gathered around the kitchen table clutching coffees.

"Edward, I just thought of something..." started Alice. "You don't have any make up remover or nail polish remover at your place..."

I looked at Emmett, and his eyes twinkled mischievously back at me.

"Be ready in ten minutes," said Emmett, as we got up quickly, scraping our chairs against the tiled floor.

"My place is closest," called Alice, putting on her heels from the night before and grabbing her purse.

I went into the bathroom, and had a super quick shower and brushed my teeth in an attempt to make myself feel more human, before getting dressed into a pair of jeans and a casual shirt. I looked at my reflection in the mirror. "At least I don't look as shit as I did ten minutes ago" I though, as I tried to comb my hair with my fingers.

When I came out of my bedroom, Emmett was scribbling something on a piece of paper.

"_Man, you are one ugly, ugly chick Jaspeen-less. Gone to get breakfast. Not coming back all day, will be hanging at yours later._

_Emmett, Edward and Alice"_

"That should do it," Emmett said, throwing it down, and grabbing Jasper's discarded clothing as we left.

We decided to walk the few blocks to Alice's apartment, but before we could enter the building, Emmett cornered me. "You should go see her," he said quietly.

"Who?" I asked, playing dumb.

"You know who. Just check she is okay."

I felt suddenly nervous. "I can't," I admitted.

"Why not, chicken shit?"

"I'm going to be the last person she wants to see right now. Or ever," I said with a tone of finality.

Emmett gave me a long, hard look. Then, he grabbed hold of my arm, and started dragging me down the street.

"Emmett..." I started protesting weakly.

"Shut up," he commanded, his jaw clenched.

We reached Bella's shop in fifteen minutes flat, and what I saw knocked the breath out of lungs.

Emmett let go of my arm quickly, as shocked as I was.

"What...What time is it?" I stammered out.

Emmett looked at his watch. "1.27pm," he said, sounding concerned.

My throat was dry as I stared up at the dark shop, the lights off inside, the chairs put on the tables, the gleaming, empty, silent counter and tables. My eyes rested for a moment on the small sign in the door.

"CLOSED".

_What the hell have I done?_

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**Sorry for the small cliffie guys! **

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**Reviewers are Previewers!**


	7. Chapter 7

**Here you go, as promised, the next chapter!**

**As always, thank you to my readers and all those who reviewed, and in particular to star-Rose-01 for your kind messages :D **

**So the chapters are up to date now, so from now on the update will be every week as normal.**

**Disclaimer: Stephanie Meyer owns the characters but this plot is all mine.**

**Enjoy!**

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BPOV

I lay in our bed, staring up at the ceiling above.

Downstairs, the door bell rang a few times, urgently. I ignored it.

I turned over to look at the digital clock on the nightstand, and a sharp pain shot up my side. _14.27. _I groaned, and turned over again, eventually falling into a deep and fitful sleep.

"_You fucking bitch!" James screeched at me, as he hurled a mug at me. It crashed into the wall behind me, and I cowered away from the shards of splintered china now flying towards me. _

"_Why can't you keep your filthy, whoresome mouth shut? You disgusting whore! Look at yourself! You sold yourself; what kind of stupid lesbian whore does that? You became my property the minute I bought you! You lost all human rights at that moment!" James continued to throw crockery at me._

_Suddenly, he stopped throwing things, and strode over to me, with hard angry steps. He grabbed hold of the base of my skull, and tugged at my hair. He shoved me against the wall, pinning me there by my arms. _

_And for the first time in my 'marriage', I felt truly afraid. _

_He put his face up close to mine, and hissed in my face. "You are my whore, I can do whatever I like to you."_

_Then, he swung his arm back and punched me in the face._

_I yelped out in pain and surprise, which seemed to spur him on more. He kept on pummelling me in the face, and started delivering blows to my stomach._

_I tried to sink to the ground in pain, but he forced me back to my feet. Eventually, he let go of me, and I fell to the floor. James kicked me a few times, before spitting at me and leaving the house, slamming the door behind him._

I woke up, panting and shaking, tears streaming down my face. The bed sheets were all tangled from all of the tossing and turning. I turned my head again to look at the clock; 16.53.

I resorted to watching the ceiling again. It hurt too much to get up and do something. My whole body was in agony. I still hadn't seen the damage of this beating. This was the worst though; I knew that without even looking.

The first time he did it, James was drunk, and so I tried to forget about it. I could still move and function, and I convinced myself that it was just because he was drunk.

Last time he had not been drunk.

But I had no choice. I needed to money for my mother's treatments, and this was the easiest and fastest way to earn the enormous amounts required.

'_It's all Edward Cullen's fault', _I thought bitterly.

'_The fucking bastard had to get involved. If he hadn't beaten up James, then I wouldn't be like this.'_

As I got more and more agitated, I started to get restless. I looked at the clock again. 17.08.

I sighed and threw back the covers. I was going to have to get up sometime. Might as well get it over with.

I padded over to the bathroom slowly, hindered by the extent of my injuries.

I stood, once again, before the full-length bathroom mirror, and stripped my clothes off carefully and slowly, wincing frequently.

Finally, I was stood wearing just my underwear.

My thighs were coloured purple, the string of bruises snaking around my knees and down the length of my left calf; on my right calf, only a few random bruises coloured the skin. A ring of bruises wrapped themselves around my neck, suffocating me. They trailed down my neck, and branched out into dark, angry finger marks in my shoulders and arms. My forearms had large clusters of the marks, and others looped down my underarms, over my collarbones and into my cleavage, hidden by my bra.

Nothing was as bad as my face however.

I had a black eye, and my lip was split. The left half of my face was pretty much all bruises. I sighed, putting one of my hands to the base of my hair in despair. When my hand came away, it was bloody.

I had decided to go back to work tomorrow, after taking the last three days off. I couldn't afford to lose any customers. The money was flowing in at a reasonable rate, and the quicker I earned it, the sooner I could leave James.

I got into the shower, and stood still, savouring the feel of the hot water cascading over my body. I began to lather my hair with my shampoo, wincing as the shampoo stung when it made contact with my head. I conditioned my hair as well, and then used the bath scrunchie to carefully wash my body. Then I got out of the shower and towelled off, before getting dressed, brushing my teeth and falling into another nightmare.

The next morning, I woke up to an empty bed; James had gone on a conference for three days, beginning today.

I showered again, to sooth my aching body, and got dressed in a long sleeved, high necked purple jumper and plain black trousers. Then I began work on my face.

I covered the bruises carefully with concealer, before putting a layer of foundation over the top for maximum concealment. I then hid my black eye as well, and debated for a few minutes about my lip, before deciding to leave it as it was. I wouldn't be able to hide it convincingly anyway.

When I was done, I looked the same as ever, apart from the split lip. You would never be able to tell that I had even just one bruise on my body, let alone several.

I had a quick breakfast, before putting on some large, black aviator sunglasses and leaving.

I drove towards the bakery, thinking of everything that I needed to do today. I parked a few blocks away, and decided to walk for the last few minutes; the parking here was free, and only around the corner from my bakery.

As I approached, I saw that there was a man sitting on the steps outside. A man that I recognised all too well.

His head whipped round as he saw me approaching.

I pretended not to notice him, as I swept up the stairs past him.

"Bella?" he leapt up. "How are you?" he sounded nervous.

"What do you want?" I asked coldly, not even looking at him.

"Can we talk?"

"I wish I could, but I don't want to," I replied shortly. I unlocked the door, and made to walk through, but he grabbed my arm to stop me. I winced in pain, as he touched a bruise, and he immediately let go again.

"Sorry," he muttered.

I went into the bakery, and he followed me, shutting the door behind him.

"So how are you?"

"Peachy." I was hoping he would take the hint and leave soon.

"Look, about James-"

"What? What about him? I don't give a shit!" I yelled at him, all of the built up anger coming out. I turned to face him for the first time. He looked nervous, sheepish and concerned...as well as incredibly sexy.

He was wearing black trousers, and casual shirt, with the last few buttons undone. The shirt accentuated his muscles. A lot. His copper coloured hair was messy as always, as if he had been running his hands through it repeatedly.

I shut my mouth, only just becoming aware that it was open.

He smirked at me. "Like what you see?"

"No, I am just trying to figure out exactly _what _I see; the label's fallen off," I shot back, razor quick.

He laughed at this. "Why are you here?" I asked him.

"Just to see how you are," he replied.

"Bullshit!"

He stood still for a minute, and then strode over to me, so he was standing about a foot away from me.

"What happened to your lip?" he asked casually. "Walk into a door?" this comment was sarcastic.

"None of your business!" I all but shouted at him.

"You are such a shit liar," he chuckled. He looked at my face for a moment, and then said 'Take off your glasses."

"No," I retorted defiantly, pushing the glasses further up my nose. Well, attempting to anyway. Because today the whole world was against me, and they just slipped back down, hurtling towards the ground.

Edward put his hand out and caught them quickly. He had good reflexes, I'll give him that.

Then, without warning, he brushed a hand across my face, and pain shot up the length of my face.

"Hey!" I shrieked, trying to swipe his hands away. "What the fuck are you doing, pervert!"

He looked at his hand, and at the layer of concealer that was now on it, and gasped when he saw the bit of my face that was now exposed, no doubt seeing a load of bruises.

His emerald eyes penetrated deep into my chocolate ones, and I was unable to look away.

Then, he grabbed the base of my skull, and pulled my face towards his, and kissed me.

The kiss...wow. It was rough, but gentle enough so my lip didn't hurt. It was slow and sensual, but frantic at the same time. Edward pushed me backwards gently, until I felt the counter behind me. The kiss was a thousand things at once.

Then I realised what I was doing. I pulled away quickly. He looked at me in confusion, and I smiled up at him. He smiled back, resting his forehead against mine.

I pulled away from him, still smiling. Then I pulled back my hand, and with all the force I could muster, slapped him hard across the face.

"That's for the kiss," I said, and slapped him again. "And that's simply because I hate you." I turned around, and walked away from him.

"You know the way out," I called back at him.

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	8. Chapter 8

**Hey guys, here is the next chapter! **

**Sorry for the delay (again). I was ready to post this about ten days ago, but FF has been down! I have been trying everyday to upload, but I couldn't. Sorry! I will update a few times in the next week to get back up to date with it. **

**As always, a huge thanks to my readers, I hope you are enjoying the fanfic, and please keep reading and reviewing! **

**Unfortunately, I am not getting many reviews, compared to the amount of people adding my story to alerts and favourites, and the amount of hits I am getting. I hope this doesn't mean that you don't like the plot, but I won't mind, let me know even if you don't like the story. If I continue to not get a lot of reviews, then I am going to call it a day with this story (which I hope won't happen, because I love writing this story!).**

**So get reviewing! Let's see if we can reach 15 reviews for the fanfic after this chapter? Remember, those who review receive a preview!**

**Disclaimer: Stephanie Meyer owns the characters, this plot is mine though! (evil cackle)**

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EPOV

I stood there, stunned, holding onto my cheek with my hand. Bella kept on walking, without looking back. She had hit me pretty damn hard; my cheek was still stinging from the impact.

"Bella! What the fuck?" I called out to her.

She stopped and turned to face me, venom in her eyes. "Mrs. Denali to you. And you know the fuck why! Why did you kiss me? I AM A MARRIED WOMAN, MORON!" she yelled, waving her hand in my direction, the sun bouncing off the band of her cheap wedding ring.

I rolled my eyes at her. "At least let me tell you what I came to say."

"No," she said defiantly, her lip set in a pout.

"Okay, well then I would like breakfast," I replied.

"Great, there is a Starbucks a few blocks away."

"But I want it from herrreee," I whined.

She huffed, and set to work for me. I grinned. Who said persistence gets you nowhere?

She slammed her bag down on the counter, and began making me a coffee.

"What happened to your face?" I asked, sitting down. "James hit you because I beat him up, right?" I asked casually.

"No," she said slowly.

"Bella cut the crap. He is beating you up! Its domestic abuse! Why are you married to the bastard?" I asked, growing frustrated.

She didn't answer for a few minutes. "Look," she said finally. "It's none of your business".

"If it's because of my stupidity that he beat you up, then it is."

"Edward, shut up. Just don't get involved. Please," she pleaded.

"Okay, I will drop it for now," I said reluctantly as she placed a coffee in front of me.

"Now get lost," she said.

I felt nervous as I stood in front of her door that night, holding the flowers and a huge pizza. I rang the bell and waited anxiously, nervous of how she would react to seeing me there.

I didn't think this through very well. I thought to myself. Oh well, too late now.

After a few seconds, she answered the door.

She looked tired and overworked, but the minute she saw me, he eyes flashed with anger.

"What now?" she asked, not even bothering to hide her annoyance.

I flashed her a huge, wide grin. I held the flowers and the pizza out towards her. She looked at them, and then at my face. "Come in then," she grumbled. "I told you to drop it!"

"Actually, I believe my exact promise was to drop it for now. For now is now over, and I can therefore talk about it again." I gave her a smug smile, and she groaned at me.

Her house was as clean as it had been the last time I came over, and I followed her through into a living room. It was nicely furnished, with an expensive looking black leather sofa with white cushions in front of a wide screen TV. The room was sleek yet comfortable, and features like the numerous bookshelves and fireplace added a touch of homeliness to the otherwise modern room.

"This is nice," I said appreciatively, as she motioned to me to sit on one of the sofas. She sat down opposite me on the other. She had been watching some movie on the TV before I came, and she turned off the TV.

"Sorry," I apologised. "I should've called before I came."

"No, you shouldn't have come in the first place," she said as if talking to a child. I laughed out loud, and she joined in.

"How are you?" I asked her.

"Fine."

"Where's James?"

"Some conference somewhere for three days," she replied, sounding detached.

"The one in Maine?"

"Yep."

"Oh."

This was turning out to be very awkward. I suddenly remembered the pizza. I held it out.

"I bought you a pizza. I didn't know what you would like, so I got all of the toppings," I babbled on. Great going Cullen, now she is going to think you are a total head case.

"Thank you," she said graciously. She took the pizza out of my hands, and got up. "I'll just go get some plates and glasses. What do you want to drink?"

"I'll come help," I said, jumping up. "I don't mind, as long as it isn't alcoholic. I'm driving back later." I followed her through the house until we reached the kitchen. She was dressed casually in yoga pants and a hoodie with some bed socks, but she still managed to look pretty damn good. She still had the make up on her face covering the marks that I was sure were there.

"Apple juice okay?" she asked me, standing in front of the open fridge.

I cleared my throat. "That's fine with me."

She started getting plates out of a cupboard and brought them over to the table.

"Could you grab the glasses please? They are in that top cupboard." She pointed to the one she meant, and I went and got two out and set them next to the plates.

We sat down and began to eat. An uncomfortable silence filled the room.

Finally she said "The pizza's good."

"Thanks."

_What the hell? What did I just thank her for?_

I watched her inconspicuously as she ate, and noticed that she kept on wincing every time she picked up the glass to drink.

I thought for a moment, thinking about the best way to go about this.

I fanned myself. "It's quite warm in here."

"Yeah, it's nice weather at the moment."

"Aren't you hot? You are practically covered in warm layers. I am only wearing a shirt and I am boiling." I tried to sound casual.

"No, I'm fine," she replied. I could tell she was lying.

"Bullshit," I said, without even looking up. "What are you hiding?"

"Nothing!" she sounded indignant.

"Bella, I am a psychologist. I can tell when someone is lying to me." She didn't say anything.

"Why does it matter to you anyway? I am nothing to you, you hardly know me. So why do you keep trying to help me?" she asked softly.

I sighed and played with my slice of pizza. "When I was seven, my father died. He had been battling with cancer for about five years, and suddenly the treatments stopped working on him and his condition went rapidly downhill. About three years later, my mom was introduced to someone through her friend as a blind date. My mom didn't want to do it, but her friend persuaded her to go. Her and this guy seemed to click and their relationship turned quite serious.

To start with, it was great. He treated my mother with a lot of respect and he was always...courteous to me." I paused to look at her. She looked engrossed, and her face was rapt with attention.

"About six months later, he came home drunk one night, and hit my mom on the arm. Later, he said it was an accident, and he didn't mean it, and my mom said it was no big deal. I guess we were both taken in by his charm and his kindness," I said bitterly.

"After that, his mood wasn't so good. He was irritable and rude to us, and it got to the point that my mother and I would be scared of him a lot of the time, on edge. The slightest thing would set him off. Then he started coming home drunk a lot more, and I noticed bruises and marks on my mom, but I stayed quiet. By this point, I was about eleven, nearly twelve. I knew what was going on, but I did nothing," I said, anguished. I started pulling at my hair slightly, running my fingers through it and tugging slightly to relieve some of the tension.

"Nobody ever guessed about what was going on; everyone thought that they were the perfect couple. I was the only one who knew otherwise, and I did nothing. Eventually, she had a mental breakdown, and got put in a psychiatric ward on suicide watch. Three months later she was let out. A week after this, her boyfriend beat her to death, thinking that she had been telling people about the abuse. I was fourteen."

We sat quietly for a while. I looked at her. She was playing with her hands in her lap.

Finally, she spoke. "Where is he now?"

"I have no idea. I was put into state care quicker than you can say 'pumpkin pie'. I never saw or heard about him again."

"Don't you see Bella? You need to get out, get away from James as quickly as possible, or that will be you in a few years time," I pleaded.

She looked up at me. "I need some time to think."

I smiled at her, relieved that she had at least considered what I had said.

Without warning, she stood up, and started taking off her hoodie. I gasped as I saw the bruises colouring her flesh. I could only see her arms and neck, but the marks seemed to snake under her tank top she was wearing; he had beaten her up real good. I felt disgusted that anyone could do that to a woman. She put her hoodie back on, and sat down again, as if nothing had happened.

"I need to think," she said again, as I sat speechless.

"Why did you kiss me? Back in the shop?" she asked me, her eyes downcast.

I thought for a moment. "I don't know," I lied.

"Oh." She didn't push me for an answer.

"I'm sorry," I said, embarrassed.

"I punched you. We're even," she grinned, still not meeting my eyes. "I wish I could say that I am sorry for that, but I hate lying."

I laughed loudly, and even Bella managed to crack a small smile and looked up at me.

" I should go," I said, catching sight of the time.

She walked me over to the door, and said "Thank you." She said it so softly that I was sure I had imagined it.

"No problem," I smiled at her, even though I had no idea what she was thanking me for.

"YOU DID WHAT?" Emmett yelled at me.

"Why did you have to get involved?" Alice said, sounding thoroughly annoyed.

It didn't hit me until then the scale of what I had done.

"You basically told another woman to leave her husband? And don't even get me started on kissing her! That was so irresponsible and reckless Edward!" I don't even know who said that, I had completely switched off by now.

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_What the fuck is wrong with me?_

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	9. Chapter 9

**Hey guys! Here is the next chapter, I am going to try and get back up to date this week, so I will be uploading the next chapter around Wednesday.**

**A hugggee thank you to all of my readers, and a massive thank you to star-Rose-01 and Cevvin, who reviewed. Cevvin, your reviews really cheered me up! Please continue to review my work, I really appreciate it!**

**Lets see if we can reach 25 reviews after this?**

******Disclaimer: Stephanie Meyer owns the characters, this plot is mine though!**

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**BPOV**

The minute Edward left, I suddenly felt a huge wave of fatigue hit me. I managed to drag myself up the stairs, before collapsing on the bed. It was strange, but talking to him had been like talking to a friend. But I couldn't have friends. Not while I was married to James. What if somebody found out what was going on? Edward was already trying to piece it together. No, I couldn't risk it. I needed the money.

The next morning, I woke up and went to see my shrink, the only person who knew the main story.

"Bella," Carlisle welcomed me into his office warmly, motioning at the familiar comfy armchairs by the french windows.

"So, how are you?" he said evenly, looking at my face for any signs of emotion carefully.

"Confused," I said honestly."Someone thinks that James is hitting me, and that my marriage is unhappy?"

"_Is_ James hitting you?" Carlisle was watching my face carefully again.

"No!" I said quickly.

"Why would this person think that James is abusing you and you have an unhappy marriage?"

"Because..." I sighed. "He saw bruises on my arms, and thought they were caused by James."

"Were they?"

"No! I tripped. You know what I'm like!" I was getting frustrated.

Carlisle chuckled. "That I do," he muttered. "Who said this stuff to you?"

"Some random guy, I don't even know him that well. He turned up at work, and then at my house with pizza. I think he works with James or something," I said, nonchalantly. "He came over to dinner once, James invited him."

"Could he have gotten any indication from the dinner that the marriage is unhappy?"

My silence said it all.

"Okay, I have been thinking Bella. I think it would be a good idea if you wrote down certain events that have taken place in your life, to reflect over them. I think that it would really help you to see your life from a different perspective."

"No!" I jumped up. "What if James finds it?" I tried desperately to clutch at straws.

Carlisle spoke soothingly. "He won't, you and I both know that. And I'm afraid that unless you do this, I can't help you any further." He looked at me sternly. "Do you want our sessions to be over?"

I sighed loudly, and sat back on the chair.

"Excellent!" said Carlisle, clapping his hands together and beaming, as I finally realised what he had just done.

"You...you...manipulator!" I said, pointing my finger at him.

He laughed at me. "Just a little reverse psychology Bella."

"In other words, manipulation. What is the first thing you want me to write about?" I tried to sound as bored as I could.

"The events leading up to your first meeting with Victoria."

I suddenly felt light headed. "Why?" I said feebly. "You already know about that. I can't do that!" I managed to croak out, my powers of speech gone.

"If you want to achieve anything out of these sessions, then you must do this." Carlisle peered at me sternly. "Or we need to call your appointments off completely. I can't help you Bella, unless you begin to help yourself. And this is not be being manipulative or using reverse psychology, this is the truth." I nodded weakly. "Write it whenever you feel ready, and call me when you are done. Then we can make an appointment. There is no point having an appointment until you have done what I have asked."

I left Carlisle's office, and decided to go to the mall for the rest of the day to cheer myself up (and buy myself a few things).

I got into my Audi A8, a present from James, and sped down to mall, with the windows wide open and the stereo playing at full blast.

About fifteen minutes later, I parked the car, and decided to go and get a coffee before anything else, so I got myself a small table in the coffee bar outside and drank my latte, enjoying the feeling of the sun on my body.

I started to think about what Carlisle had said about writing down my experiences, and decided that maybe it wasn't such a bad idea after all. I acted on impulse, and pulled out a notebook from my purse and a pen and began to write, reliving the memories that were ingrained in my memory.

_JULY 2006_

"_Bella honey, I am just popping out to buy some more alcohol, did you want anything?"_

"_No thanks Mom," I shouted from the garden, where I was setting up the barbecue. "What time did you tell Billy and Jake to come?"_

"_I invited them for six, so they should be here in about half an hour I think."_

_We had been planning to hold a barbecue that day for my Dad's best friend and his son, Jacob. My mother was forever trying to set the two of us up on a date, from when we were little children. My father, Charlie, had died when I was four. He was known as Chief Swan, and was out on patrol, when he came across an armed robbery and was shot. The shot was only in the leg, but the doctors failed to remove a piece of the bullet, and so his leg got infected, and it was the infection that killed him. _

_Ever since his death, Billy and Jake had been like family to us, helping my mom and me through everything._

_Jacob was exactly one week older than me, and his mom had left when he was a few months old, leaving him in the care of his disabled father. Between us, we had a complete set of parents, and we had grown up like brother and sister. _

"_Okay Bella, I'll be back in about fifteen minutes." I heard the door shut, and carried on setting up the barbecue. _

_Not long after, Jake wheeled Billy into the garden, through the side gate. "Come on in," I joked, and they both grinned at me._

_I walked over to them, and kissed Billy on both cheeks, and then hugged Jake. "You guys are early," I said, pretending to be annoyed. _

"_We know how annoyed you get when we are late," Billy said, smiling at me._

"_And now we also know how annoyed you get when we are early," Jacob smirked. I slapped his arm, and we began wrestling, which resulted in him pushing me on the floor._

"_Hey!" I laughed. "No fair, you are so much fatter than me! It is easier for you to beat me!"_

_Jacob helped me up. "I am not fat. I am muscular!" he said loudly, kissing his biceps._

_I rolled my eyes at him, and went over to the barbecue. "I'll do that, you get the food," Jacob offered, and I handed him the bag of coal. _

"_Where's Renee?" Billy asked, grabbing a beer from the table._

"_She just went out to get some more drinks," I explained, while tossing the salad." She should be back soon."_

_We began chatting and joking around, and I had completely forgotten about Renee, until I looked at my watch again. I frowned at it. "Jake, what time do you make it?"_

"_Urmmm..." Jacob paused to lick some ketchup off his fingers. "6.45."_

"_Thought so. Renee should be back by now." I was growing anxious._

"_Don't worry Bella," Billy soothed. "I am sure she is fine. You know what Renee is like; she has probably met an old friend, or gone to the wrong shop or something."_

"_Yeah," I said not entirely convinced. _

_I waited another fifteen minutes, before trying to ring her. No one answered. _

"_Bella, don't worry. I am sure she is wandering round the car park, wondering where her car is," Jake joked, wrapping his arms around me. _

_At 7.16pm precisely, the house phone rang. I ran to the phone, snatching it up._

"_Hello?"_

"_Is that Miss Swan?" a man asked calmly._

"_Yes that's me. What can I do for you?"_

"_This is the hospital. We think that a woman under the name Renee Swan has been bought in, but we're not sure if it is her or not. We need you to come and identify her for us; she is unconscious at the moment. She was in a car crash earlier this evening, another car hit her. He was drunk, and driving on the wrong side of the road."_

_I felt as if the air had been knocked out of my lungs. "I'll be right there," I managed to choke out, and then hung up._

"_What's wrong?" Jacob asked, looking concerned. I hadn't heard him and Billy come in. _

"_That was the hospital. They think that Mom has been in a car crash, and she is unconscious. I need to go make sure it is her."_

_Everything after that was a blur. At some point, I ended up in Jacob's car in the back seat with Billy, with Jake speeding to the hospital. The minute he stopped the car, I ran out as fast as I could, and asked the receptionist which room my mom was in. I sprinted to the room, Jake and Billy hot on my heels, and halted suddenly when I reached the room. _

_There were two doctors standing outside the room, talking in hushed whispers. They stopped talking when they saw me. _

"_Bella Swan..." I panted. "Renee's daughter. Can I see her?"_

_The doctors exchanged glances. They were both male, and in any other situation I would have found them very attractive. "Miss Swan, of course. But just to let you know, your mother is in a critical condition. She is unconscious, and hooked up to many machines and monitors. We are going to operate the minute you have confirmed her identity to us."_

_I pushed past them, and entered the room. On a bed lay my mom, hooked up to a million things, and needles and wires going into her in every place that the doctors had found. I felt anger rising in me. She looked pale as a ghost, and her brunette hair was fanned out around her head, giving her an ethereal glow. _

_I walked out, before I broke down at sight of the broken human. "Yes, it's her. Why did you have to wait until I indentified her, before you operated?" I asked angrily._

"_Because Renee is allergic to morphine. We had to make sure it was really her, so that we can use a different drug. The other drug is less effective than morphine, and we didn't want to slow down someone else's recovery time by assuming that she was allergic to morphine, when she actually isn't," the doctor explained patiently. "Your friends are in the waiting room."_

_I walked in the direction that the doctor had pointed, and was immediately encased in Jacob's arms, as we waited for the operation._

"_What do they need to operate for? What's wrong with her?" it wasn't until Jacob asked me that I realised that I had completely forgotten to ask._

I realised that I had finished my latte, and decided to stop writing and go. I was surprised to see that the sun had begun to set, and the coffee bar was almost empty. I hadn't even noticed how long I had been writing for.

I decided to go into the mall anyway; it was late night shopping today, so the shops would be open until about eleven. It was only about six-thirty now.

I walked around the shops for a while, and then remembered that I had wanted to buy an evening dress for a party. James had told me about some hospital function next week that I needed to accompany him to, him being one of the partners who owned the hospital.

I entered a designer shop, and picked up a few dresses to try on. I went into the changing room, and tried on dress after dress, starting to panic that I wouldn't find one. I tried on floor length, knee length, sleeveless, low necked, high necked, silk, satin, green, peach, but nothing looked right.

I had begun to give up when I found it. I hadn't initially liked this one on the rack; it was a sweeping satin floor length gown, which swept the ground behind me slightly in a fan shape. It had a plunging neckline, with a thick embroided sash where the neck ended, directly beneath my breasts. It made my breasts look full, but didn't expose them. The rest of the skirt flowed out in a beautiful A-line. It was a beautiful deep blue colour, and the minute I tried it on I knew it was the one.

I had thought it looked a bit plain when I had seen it on the rack, but it made me look elegant and feminine and...well, _beautiful. _

I opened the door of the changing room ask the sales girl if they would alter it slightly for me, to make it look more fitted.

However, there was no sales girl out there, but instead my _favourite _person in the whole world.

Edward was staring at me shamelessly. "What are you doing here?" I demanded angrily.

"I...urghh...was here with my sister," he said, looking at my body. I could've sworn I heard him give another small moan at the end of his sentence.

"Hello!" I called, waving at him. "Face is up here!" he looked up at me, blushing slightly.

"You look...wow," he said, his voice sounding hoarse.

He had subtly placed the shop's catalogue in front of his crotch area at some point. I caught sight of his tactic, and felt suddenly hot, and embarrassed.

"Oh my god...that better not be there why I think it is!" I said, trying to hide my embarrassment, and sound annoyed instead.

"Alice! Alice!" he called out suddenly, not meeting my eye. "I'll wait for you in the car!" he ran out quickly.

The minute he left, I suddenly found myself smiling at his embarrassment, and began to laugh.

_Bless him._

I suddenly felt angry that he had viewed me that way, and my amusement suddenly changed to embarrassment.

_Did he think I was cheap?_

I flushed red, and decided to buy the dress anyway, asking the sales girls if the dress could be altered (which it could), and if it could be done in time for this time next week (which it could).

The whole drive home, I could not stop thinking about Edward's reaction, and wondering why it bothered me so much what he thought.

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**Mine was in the shop, with Edward :P**

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	10. Chapter 10

**Here it is!**

**Sorry again about the delay, things have been really hectic and real life has been kind of tough :(**

**Thank you for your support, and also thanks to all of my readers, reviewers and people who have added the story to alerts :D**

**We didn't quite manage to make it to 25 reviews with the last chapter, but maybe we can reach it after this? Or even exceed it? Please continue to review, even if you didn't like the chapter or story, so that I can see where I am going wrong and improve my writing, or even if it is just a one word review or anonymous. I would really appreciate the feedback!**

******Disclaimer: Stephanie Meyer owns the characters, this plot is mine though!**

**Enough boring stuff, let's get on with it!**

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EPOV

I felt mortified as I sat in the car waiting for Alice. Bella probably thought I was a total perverted creep now.

I exhaled in frustration and hit the steering wheel. I felt angry for letting myself be seen in that cheap way, but feeling slightly frustrated, sexually, as well.

Eventually Alice came out, clutching a large bag. She got into the car in silence, and didn't say anything for a while. Then suddenly she spoke.

"What was that all about?" she said, trying to sound casual.

"It was too hot in there," I lied quickly. This seemed to satisfy Alice, and she was silent the rest of the way home.

I dropped her off at her apartment, and then drove the few blocks to my own. I let myself in, threw the keys down on the table and tried not to think about Bella.

I switched on the TV and started watching the game. I ordered a pizza a while later, and when the game finished I was surprised to see that it was pitch black outside.

I decided to take a shower and go to bed.

As I was in the shower, my thoughts drifted back to Bella wearing that dress...her hair had been all curly and wild, framing her heart shaped face, and her cheeks were tinted pink, her eyes alive and shining and bright...and that body. Wow.

The dress clung to her in all the right places. Her breasts looked natural and full, the dress enhancing her curvy yet slender figure. She had looked sensual yet sexy in that lovely blue.

Great.

I had managed to get hard again. I didn't even know why, I wasn't even attracted to Bella.

It must have just been the surprise of seeing her all dressed up.

I consoled myself with the thought.

Besides, she is married.

I put one hand against the shower wall, and took mini Edward in my hand and began slowly moving my hand up and down, pretending it was Bella's hand. I started moving faster, trying to relieve some of my tension, and unable to last much longer. After all, I had waited all evening.

I pictured the way she had looked in the dress, the way she had blushed, the way she bit her lip when she saw me...I moved my hand faster, and came moments later, moaning loudly. Wow. I couldn't remember the last time I had cum that hard.

I got dressed quickly, and went to bed. I fell asleep quickly, feeling content.

The next day, I decided that it was best if I tried to avoid Bella for a while, which meant no more visiting her shop. Damn.

I got ready and went into the kitchen, looking around at the cupboards, feeling lost. It had been a few weeks since I had eaten breakfast at home; I usually went to Bella's shop for that now, after discovering that her food was much nicer than my own instant coffee and toast made from stale bread, or soggy cereal that had gone limp from being left open for too long.

I finally settled on that coffee and a banana, and left the house, heading straight to work. I was very tempted to stop off at a certain shop on the way, and looked at it longingly as I drove past, but remembered my humiliation far too soon, and suddenly didn't feel so hungry any more.

I carried on like this for a few days, feeling quite pleased for not giving in, even though I had been deeply tempted to fuck it and go see her, acting nonchalant and as if she hadn't seen me modelling a tent a few days ago.

However, I kept talking myself out of this plan. Think how awkward it would be.

I had managed three days; I could manage a few more, right? Besides, James was back by now. I couldn't just show up at their house, asking to see Bella.

Then fate just had to step in and ruin it all. And it couldn't have just given a subtle push in the right direction, oh no, heaven forbid something go right for Edward Cullen.

I had stopped off at the grocery store after work to buy some food; having to cook an extra meal at home, had severely depleted my rations. I hated shopping, so I usually only went about once a month, and bought enough to last me, but the breakfasts were completely ruining my system.

I was on the phone to Emmett, who was yelling down the phone at me about some business venture he wanted me to join him in.

"Yes but Emmett-"

Emmett continued to talk.

"No but-"

"Emmett listen-"

"Why-"

I was growing increasingly frustrating with the one sidedness of this conversation. I was trying to manoeuvre my shopping trolley, pick up groceries, avoid innocent passer bys, at the same time as trying to get Emmett to listen to me. Cut me some slack here, I can't multitask that well. At the end of the day, I am still a guy.

"Emmett-" I got cut off again. I put a jar of coffee in my trolley.

"EMMETT WILL YOU SHUT UP FOR ONE FRICKIN' MINUTE?"

Shit.

I was met with silence on the other end of the line. Suddenly, everything was silent.

I turned around slowly, and grinned sheepishly at everyone who had stopped what they were doing and were looking at me, their mouths wide open.

I looked around. Even the shop assistants had stopped and were looking at me disapprovingly.

I saw a little kid, standing near me. He was the only person I could see who looked slightly amused. He looked about twelve, and seemed to be alone.

"Are you on your own?" I whispered out of the corner of my mouth. The boy nodded.

"Do whatever you need to," he replied subtly, faking a cough.

I tried to think of the best way to deal with this, to try and gain back a little bit of self respect.

"HA, I WIN!" I yelled, giving an air punch. "I shouted the loudest! I win, you suck, I rule all!"

"No fair Dad!" the kid whined, playing along. "I want a rematch!"

People had started to lose interest, some even smiled at this so-called father sacrificing his self respect for his child. Yeah right.

When I was sure that no one was looking any more, I motioned to the kid to follow me, and we walked down the next aisle which was empty.

We took one look at each other, and burst into peals of laughter, leaning against each other so that we wouldn't fall, clutching our stomachs and on the verge of tears.

"That," laughed the kid, "Was genius!"

I wiped my eyes and continued to laugh. We began calming down, but started up again as soon as we saw each other.

"The best bit," the kid choked out, "Was...was..." he was laughing so hard, he couldn't get his words out, "I win, you suck, I rule all!" at which I burst into a fresh torrent of laughter.

Finally the laughter died down. "Look," I said, seriously. "I owe you one. Thanks." I handed him a ten dollar bill, and the kid gave a huge smile.

"If I'd have known you were gonna pay me, I would've given a better performance," he joked. "Thanks!"

I smiled at him. "No, thank you. What's your name?"

"Jack."

"Nice to meet you Jack. See you around buddy," I said. He gave me a fist bump, and I carried on with my shopping, in a considerably better mood than before.

I considered ringing Emmett back, but decided against it. I still remembered what had happened the last time I spoke to him whilst shopping.

I carried on, absentmindedly throwing things in my trolley, not really paying attention to what I was doing.

I suddenly felt my trolley hit something.

I looked up, and there was Bella Denali. Shit.

"You should look where you're going, you could've hit someone pretty hard with that thing," she joked.

"Someone pretty...hard...that thing..." for some reason, these parts stuck in my mind, and coming from her mouth...and ladies and gentlemen once again Edward Cullen is modelling his latest tent!"

Fucking shitty bitchy motherfuckers.

I moved slightly to stand so that the trolley hid my arousal. "Sorry," I said. "I guess I wasn't paying attention."

"No worries."

Then we stood there for a few minutes awkwardly, not knowing what to say.

"Is James back?" I asked, trying to break the ice.

"Not yet, the conference was delayed, the organisers went on strike for some reason. It only just started today, so he'll be back in two days."

"Oh."

"Why don't you come over tonight for dinner?" she asked. "You look as if you haven't eaten properly in a while, and besides, I wanted to try out a new recipe. You could try it for me?"

Say no, say no, say no. "I'd love to!" What the fuck Edward? What was that?

We stood awkwardly again.

"Well, I should go-"

"I need to-"

We both started at the same time. We smiled awkwardly at each other.

"See you later Edward."

"Bye Bella."

Okay, now to tackle the bigger problem.

Think of Bella and James, having hot, steamy sex...

That did it, and I finished my shopping and raced home, without having to lug the tent around.

I showered and dressed casually in dark jeans and a light blue shirt with a navy sweater.

I sat around for a while, debating if I could cancel on Bella. I finally decided that it would be rude, and so grabbed my car keys and drove over to Bella's.

I knocked on her door and waited for her to answer, realising too late that I should have bought something, like a bottle of wine or flowers or something.

I started to feel stupid, but she opened to door before I could get too carried away.

She looked amazing. She was dressed casually in dark blue jeans and a periwinkle blue sweater.

"Hi!" she smiled, ushering me in before I could answer. She led me into the kitchen, and I admired how good she looked. The jeans were tight and clung to her, emphasising her great ass and legs, and the sweater made her look curvy and welcoming.

She handed me a glass of wine, and told me to sit down, while she checked on something in the oven.

"No way," I said, getting back up. "I am not sitting while you make my dinner. What do you want me to do?"

"No, really-"

I gave her a stern look, and she shut up. "Could you cut the salad?" she asked. "The stuff's over there." She pointed towards the counter, where an array of vegetables were lined up next to a wooden chopping board.

"Of course ma'am," I said, and picked up my wine to go start chopping.

"So," she said. "How was your day?"

"It was okay," I said, chopping a lettuce. "Pretty boring actually. The highlight of it was probably at the grocery store."

"The grocery store?" she asked, puzzled.

I had forgotten that she wasn't there, so proceeded to tell her what had happened with the kid, and by the end of it we were both laughing.

"You know, you're actually quite funny," she said, acting shocked.

"Why is that so hard to believe?" I asked, trying to sound offended, making her laugh more.

"Oh, I don't know, possibly that broody expression you always have? Or your very serious work clothes?" she looked at me calculatingly, scratching her head and pretending to think long and hard.

"Okay, I am going to end this conversation before I get offended and leave," I said dramatically, flinging one arm over my forehead, and we laughed harder.

"Tell me something else," she said, getting a bottle of what looked like vinaigrette out of the fridge.

"Your ass looks great in those jeans," I blurted out automatically without thinking. I dropped the knife onto the chopping board and clapped a hand over my mouth.

I heard Bella drop the bottle.

I turned around, to see the bottle (miraculously intact) on the floor, and Bella looking shocked.

"What did you say?" she said slowly.

I put my other hand over my mouth, and shook my head furiously. "Nothing!" I said through my hands.

"My ass looks great in these jeans?" she said, slowly walking towards me.

"No!" I said quickly. "I mean...oh shit!"

"My ass doesn't look good?" she said, still walking towards me slowly.

"You bastard!" she screeched, and launched herself at me. I ran away from her, genuinely scared for my life. She chased me into the living room. I climbed over the sofa, my shoes still on, and backed away from her, knocking over several things in the process. I didn't hear any smashing, so I hoped everything was intact.

"I am married!" she yelled, chasing me around the room.

"I never said that!" I yelled, avoiding the cushions she was throwing at me. "I said your glass is very clean!"

She stopped at that and looked at me. I stopped running for a moment. We paused to try and make sense of what I had said in my moment of utter genius. I had tried to think of something that sounded like what I had said that made sense.

Yeah right.

Then, without warning, she launched herself at me again. "Liar!" she yelled, and tackled me onto the sofa, as we both laughed and panted.

Just then we both noticed how close we were to each other.

Bella had pushed me onto the sofa, so I was lying down on it. She was straddling my lap, her hands on my shoulders and in my hair, and her face inches from mine. Her chest was pressed against mine, as we both panted from the exercise.

We sat like that for a few minutes, caught in each other's gaze.

"Bella? I'm back! What the fuck is this?" James exploded. We hadn't heard him enter the house.

Shit.

Bella looked scared, and got off me. "Edward just came over for dinner," she said quietly, smiling at James nervously.

"What type of dinner?"

"Just an ordinary dinner!" Bella said heatedly, her cheeks flaming.

"So why were you both on the couch, with you lying on him? Was it a dinner and then a quick fuck? Or maybe dessert?" James looked as if he wanted to kill us.

"It wasn't her fault," I said. "It-"

"I don't want to hear it," said James coldly. "Get out of my house."

"But-"

"JUST GET OUT!" James yelled.

"Edward, just go," Bella said softly.

I took one look at them, and left, feeling like shit. It wasn't until I was on the porch that I realised that I had left my car keys behind.

I turned around to get them, and opened the front door, when I heard James shout.

"Do you want this whole deal to be off? And then your whore mother can die painfully? We both know that without my money, she will die. You can't afford all of her medicine, equipment, treatment by yourself. You need my money. But you need to earn my money!" I heard a crash, he must've thrown something. "And to do that," he yelled, "you need to be a convincing wife! You need to be faithful, and look after me and my house, and be ready for me when I need to fuck you! YOU ARE MY WHORE!" James screeched, and I heard a loud slap, followed by loud sobs.

"James...please..." I heard more slaps, and felt sick. I decided to leave my keys, and ran, ran as far as I could, trying to leave what I had heard behind.

I had been right all along; it wasn't a proper love marriage. But I hadn't expected all of this.

I called a cab, and went home, the sound of Bella's cries ringing in my ears.

The next morning, I was irritable at work; I had hardly slept all night, and I was tired and cranky.

Halfway through the morning, I didn't have any patients, so I sank down onto my desk, with my head in my arms.

I heard a soft knock at the door.

"Come in," I said tiredly, looking up, and was surprised when Bella walked through. I stood up, and walked around my desk to greet her.

"You left your keys," she said, waving them. She threw them at me, and I caught them in one hand.

"Thanks," I said. I looked at her face carefully, but could see no traces of marks. She must've used a lot of concealer. She was wearing a long sleeved cardigan over a shirt, and it was boiling hot today, meaning that she was covering up the marks on her arms.

"I'm sorry about last night," she said unexpectedly.

I was surprised. "No, no, not at all. If anything, I should be sorry," I replied.

"Lets call it quits," she smiled. The smile didn't quite reach her eyes.

"Won't you sit?" I asked.

"No, I should get going. Bye Edward," she said, leaving the room.

_What should I do now?_

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**I loved when Bella chased Edward...What I wouldn't have given to have been in her position; lying on a sofa, on top of Edward...ahem (blushing)**

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	11. Chapter 11

**Hey everyone!**

**First of all, I am so so so sorry about the massive delay. These last few weeks have been mad for various reasons, and I won't keep you waiting this long again. To make up for it though, this is a longer than usual chapter, and I hope you enjoy what happens in it ;)**

**Also, there is a lot of medical content at the beginning of the chapter, but it all forms the basis of Bella's story!**

**Please remember to review, I appreciate each and every review, and remember, those who review get a preview!**

******Disclaimer: Stephanie Meyer owns the characters, this plot is mine though!**

******So, without further ado, lets get on with it!**

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BPOV

_We sat for what seemed like hours, waiting for Renee to come out of surgery. I was moulded into Jacob's side, as he pressed me comfortingly into his side. Billy was sitting in a corner, staring into space with a concerned expression on his face. _

_Finally, after what seemed like forever, a doctor entered the room. _

"_Miss Swan?" he said, and I looked up at him. "Follow me please."_

_Jacob squeezed my hand and gave me a reassuring smile. I followed the doctor down the corridor into an office. He motioned for me to sit down on a chair opposite the desk, and he sat down behind the desk, resting his hand on his fingers. _

"_As you know, your mother was in a very serious crash. She broke both of her legs, fractured her hip, cracked a few ribs and has a slipped disk. These injuries are all fine, we have straightened the bones again and none will leave any lasting damage, although her movement will be limited for about six to nine months until she is completely healed and she will need to have various casts on."_

_I nodded, relieved._

"_However, when her ribs broke, one of them punctured her left lung when her body slammed into the steering wheel. For some reason, the airbags failed to activate."_

_Of course they did, I had been nagging her to get them sorted for months, when she had discovered that they didn't activate when she had accidentally driven into the mailbox at 50mph. _

"_The pneumothorax – punctured lung- was picked up on the X-ray, however, when we went in to insert a chest tube, we discovered a tumour in her lung."_

_I felt as if the breath had been knocked out of me. "Cancer?" I whispered._

_The doctor nodded. "From our records, Renee Swan doesn't have health insurance, is that correct?"_

_I nodded. She had always said that there was no need for insurance; nothing ever happened in such a small town, and Forks was barely even a town. "How much is this all going to cost?"_

"_Well, we need to do MRI's to confirm the tumour and put in her records, operations to remove the tumour, the drugs, equipment, treatment after the removal, things like chemo and radiotherapy possibly various surgeries, not to mention today's treatments. Also the fact that Renee is allergic to morphine, we are going to have to use other drugs, which are more expensive. MRI's will be $2000 alone, each. The X-rays done today will cost you $450, and the treatments, drugs and equipment used today will cost you around..." he paused for a moment to write this down and add it up._

"_Excuse me," I said. "Could you break down the costs please, so that I can see where my money is going."_

"_Certainly," he said kindly. "Today's treatment was two broken legs, at $1500 per leg, including realignment of the bone, the casts and crutches. The fractured hip cost $20,000, everything included."_

"_20,000?" I cut in. "For a fractured hip?"_

"_The average cost of treatment for a fracture hip across America is $27000. Our price is considerably lower than that. It is extraordinarily difficult to treat a fractured hip." He carried on. "The X-rays today cost you, as I said, $450. The drugs are $5050...$1750...$2800"_

_Everything stopped making sense, until all I could hear was a string of numbers. I couldn't afford all of this, how was I going to pay for this all?_

"_So, in total, you're looking at around $31,500 for the treatment following the crash, and $76,000 for the cancer treatment. Of course, these are the basic treatment costs, excluding any additional treatments your mother may, and probably will, require. In total, so far the cost is looking at around $107,500."_

"_I...I can't afford that," I choked out, shocked. _

"_Well, as part of our hospital's policy, if you pay the money in one lump sum, we can give you a 10% discount."_

"_You want me to pay over $100,000 dollars in one go? I can't even afford half of that!" I said in disbelief, growing angry at this doctor. Just because he earned ridiculous amounts of cash, didn't mean everyone did._

"_No, if you pay the crash money, so $31,500 all in one go, we will give you a 10% discount. We will reduce the fee by $3,150, so you will only have to pay $28,350."_

"_Only?"_

"_As opposed to $31,500, yes, only."_

_I took one look at his ignorant face, and stalked out of the office. "I'll get back to you," I spat out, and stalked out of the office, my fists clenched at my sides. _

_There was no way I could afford that amount of money. Why didn't Renee get insurance?_

_I rounded a corner and punch out at a wall in frustration. I clawed at my hair and pressed my fingers to my scalp as hard as I could, as if that might stop my brain from exploding. _

"_...dollars...treatment...surgery costs...discount...$31,500...only...expensive..."_

_The thoughts were swirling around my head, spinning faster and faster, until they could no longer fit._

"_107,500...lump sum..."_

_I leaned against a wall, breathing heavily as the world became blurred. I was aware of the tears streaming down my face and people...lots of people rushing down the corridor, as I blended into the hospital walls, just another relative grieving over a loss._

"_Chemotherapy...Radiotherapy...MRI scans... $107,500"_

_I sank to the ground, and the world went black._

I put my pen down and stretched my fingers out. I glanced back over the amount I had written, and then at my watch to see the time.

I was at the coffee bar again, and was seated at the same table as the last time. I found it easier to write here, where I could be alone with little risk of being seen or interrupted. It was peaceful and completely unrelated to my normal life; at home, I had the constant reminder of James, and the fear that came with the reminder that I would be caught by him.

It was almost 2pm, and I needed to get home and get ready for the function at the hospital tonight. I sighed, and packed up my notebook and pen into my tote. I drove home quickly, and entered the empty house.

I went upstairs and ran a bath, setting up my iPod and lighting some candles as I was waiting for the bath to fill up. I ran downstairs and grabbed the box of chocolates I kept for this kind of situation, as well as a romantic book, made sure all the doors were locked and got myself into the bath. I wanted to be completely relaxed and looking fantastic at the function.

I sat in the bath, just soaking and relaxing for about an hour, and then jumped into the shower to properly wash my hair with expensive shampoo and conditioner, and wash my body with a fragrant shower scrub.

When I was done, I wrapped myself in a towel, and started to properly get ready.

I got my dress out of the wardrobe, where I had left it in the garment bag exactly how it had been delivered to me, and got out the new set of underwear I had bought specially for the occasion; a discreet, lacy thong and matching bra that the shop assistant had assured me would not show, yet make my breasts look amazing.

I put on some body butter, rubbing it deep into my skin all over my body to give my skin that 'satin smooth and richness', whatever that meant, and put a light moisturiser on my face.

By now, it was about 4.30pm, and I couldn't decide whether I should put on my dress first, or do my hair and make up first and _then _put on my dress.

Putting on my dress first would be better, then I can match my make up exactly to it...but then again, I could get smudges or stains on it.

But doing my hair and make up first...it would be safer, but would ruin my hair and make up. Not to mention, I would probably get stains on my dress when I put it on anyway.

I started to get panicked, not sure what to do. I opened up my garment bag to look at the dress. It would be easy enough to put the dress on by putting my feet in first right?

I decided to do that, and quickly started on my hair. First, I dried it, using a special spray to make it sleek and shiny. Then I curled my hair, before finally putting it up into a french twist, leaving several tendrils of hair which gently curled down towards my shoulders.

I then looked at my face, trying to think what to do. I put on a thin layer of matt foundation, and put on some eyeshadow, a slightly sparkly shade which was close to my natural skin tone, sweeping it onto the lid, giving me a natural look. I put on some eyeliner on my top lid only, drawing a thin line, which got thicker towards the end of the lid, and extended slightly off the lid, to make my eyes look longer. I applied mascara, and quickly shaped my lips with a lip liner, and used a red lipstick to add some colour, finally brushing some blusher along my cheek bones.

I looked in the mirror, astonished with the result; I look good, radiant and beautiful even. I was natural, yet stunning. I did an imaginary fist pump and victory dance, I was so pleased with my result.

I then quickly put on the discreet lingerie, and slid my dress on, putting my feet through first.

I finally put on a simple silver pendant with matching earrings, a silver bracelet and slid my feet into white satin shoes, making myself a good 3 inches taller.

I looked at myself in the mirror, astonished at the stranger staring back at me.

James was already at the function. He had told me the night before how he had to be at the venue from midday to help organise the event, and so I called myself a cab; there was no point me taking a car, as we would both have to drive home separately. I grabbed my white matching purse, and organza shawl, locked up, and got in the cab, telling the driver where to take me.

About twenty minutes later, we pulled up at a large, elegant hotel, with a few stone steps leading up to the grand doors with large flowing plants either side and covered with small lights.

The whole setting looked beautiful, like something out of a fairy tale.

I walked up the steps and into the lobby, where the guests were milling around, everybody looking amazing and glamorous.

I handed my shawl over to the doorman, and accepted a glass of champagne from a passing waiter. I walked around for a bit, greeting certain guests and looking for James.

Finally, I saw him standing with a group of people, laughing and drinking happily.

I walked over to him, and he smiled, proudly, as he caught sight of me.

I greeted the people he had been talking to, and recognised them as his friends. I joined the conversation, and me and James seemed the perfect couple, the couple who everyone envies.

At 7.30 precisely, everyone entered the ballroom, and danced with their partners or helped themselves to food from the extravagant buffet, between speeches from executive hospital staff, which I only pretended to listen to.

I danced with James a few times, and we easily talked and joked together, putting on a performance for everyone.

As the evening got older, the guests grew more raucous, having consumed far too much of the free alcohol, and people began flirting with each other's partners and dancing with exotic strangers.

Around 9pm, a certain bronze haired man walked into the room, and I sank down further into my chair at our table, where I had taken a rest from the dancing and was sipping a glass of wine instead, watching James dance with some red haired woman I did not recognise. When I looked again, Edward was no longer there.

"Bella," he said, and I turned to look at him. I hadn't even noticed he had approached until he said my name.

"Edward," I said warmly. We hadn't seen each other since the morning I had gone to give him his keys, a fact that I was sure that he was also thinking back to.

"Is this chair free?" he asked, pointing to the chair next to me.

"Yep, and this one will be too if you sit there," I joked, and Edward laughed. "When did you get here? I haven't seen you all evening," I asked, as I sipped my wine.

"I have been here all day, helping James with the preperations," he said. He took a sip of his own drink. "You look beautiful," he said, looking into my eyes, penetrating so deep that I had to look away.

"Thank you," I said blushing. "You look pretty good yourself," I replied truthfully. He was dressed smartly in black slacks and a tux. I was practically salivating at the sight of him.

We sat comfortably for a while, until Edward asked "Is it okay, us sitting together? I mean won't James-"

"Nope," I cut him off. "James is as drunk as a skunk. He won't give even notice."

Edward nodded, and we continued to drink in silence.

Suddenly he stood up and offered me his hand.

I thought about it for a minute, and put down my wine. I took his hand, and he led my up to the dance floor. A slow song had just come on (typical), and we began to dance.

We started off very politely; his hand was resting lightly on my waist, and mine was on his shoulder, as we easily swayed to the music.

Somehow, by the end of the first song, his hand had wandered down to small of my back, caressing it gently with his wonderful hands.

By the end of the second song, another slow one, both of his hands were at the small of my back, and his face was resting on my shoulder, his face turned towards my neck so I could feel his every breath, and my hands had found themselves in his hair, massaging his scalp.

I knew it was wrong, but it felt so amazing I didn't want to stop. "You know, I noticed you from the minute you walked into the hotel," he whispered, his breath feeling heavenly against my skin. "You were the most beautiful woman in the room."

"And you," I whispered in his ear, "are the sexiest man in the room," having drunk far too much.

"I know about James and your marriage," he suddenly whispered. "I heard him, that day after I left your house."

I was surprised by his confession, but not shocked or annoyed, surprisingly.

"I don't love him, I never did," I whispered back. "I am going to leave him soon; I am just trying to think how."

_What the hell, he knows the basic story anyway._

He stopped moving and looking up at me. "Does that mean I'm still in with a chance?" he said, a beautiful crooked smile on his face.

I grabbed his hand, and pulled him towards the door.

"Do you have your car?" I asked him, as I retrieved my shawl.

"Yeah, it's just..." he stopped talking as we reached the open doors.

Rain was pelting down furiously, pelting the ground, pummelling it as hard as it could. It was falling fast and thick, so much so that I couldn't even see that far through it.

"...around the corner," Edward finished as we stared at the rain. "Okay, you wait here; I will go get the car."

"No way, I'm coming with you," I replied. "Besides, I love the rain!" he looked at me, unconvinced. I pouted at him, and he groaned.

"Okay, fine," he said, defeated. "But only because I couldn't say no to that pout."

I beamed up at him.

"But, you have to take my jacket," he said, already taking it off.

"No, then you will be cold..." I trailed off as he pouted at me. How could I say no to a pout like that?

"Okay fine, but only because I couldn't say no to the pout," I said, throwing his words back at him. He laughed, and helped me into the huge jacket.

I grabbed hold of the skirt of the dress, pulling it up so that it wouldn't get wet, and we walked out into the rain, walking quickly through the vicious rain.

We held hands like a pair of teenagers, grinning at each other. We turned the corner, and the hotel was no longer visible. I pulled my dress up further, to stop the bottom of the dress from getting wet.

Edward noticed me trying to keep my dress dry. Without warning, he picked me up and carried my down the street bridal style, ignoring my protests.

I looped my arms around his neck as he carried me effortlessly down the street, walking quickly to get out of the rain.

"I thought you said the car was around the corner?" I asked Edward.

"It is," said Edward. "It's just a long corner."

Finally, we reached a black Volvo C30 parked on a street corner. "Here we are," Edward said, as he walked over to the passenger seat and opened it, before gently seating me inside, handling me as if I was made of porcelain.

He ran to the driver's side, and also got in, slamming the door behind him, and we sped off down the road, sneaking secret glances at each other, exchanging small smiles.

_This was it!_

Of course, I wasn't sure what 'it' was, but I knew that this was 'it', whatever that may be.

After a few silent minutes, we pulled up by a block of apartments, and Edward pulled the key out of the ignition, leaving nothing but silence. We sat in the car for a while, looking straight ahead, waiting for someone to make the first move.

Edward began to get out of the car, and I copied him, stepping straight into a puddle.

"Shit," I muttered, shaking my foot to try and get rid of some of the water. Edward chuckled, and picked me up again.

I watched his face as he walked steadily, his beautifully chiselled face. He walked calmly, gracefully even, as he carried me into a building, up some stairs, into a lift, towards a door, as if I weighed nothing more than a feather.

He fumbled in his pockets for a moment, looking for his keys. He found them and put them in the lock, the door opening with a resounding 'click' shattering the silence of the corridor.

"Are you sure about this?" he asked me.

I nodded, and he stepped into the apartment.

"Welcome to my apartment," he whispered, with his crooked grin, before attacking my lips with his. I heard him kick the door shut, as he kissed me hungrily.

He stood my down on my feet and leaned me against the door, before resting his forehead against mine.

"What's wrong?" I asked, anxious. Had I done something wrong?

Wordlessly, he took my hand and led me through the dark apartment, until we reached a bedroom.

The whole west wall was made of glass, a huge window overlooking the city. The drapes were open, and I could see the whole city skyline, lit up by windows of office blocks and apartment blocks. The view was amazing. "Wow," I breathed.

There was a massive bed against the south wall, the same wall through which we had entered through a door. From the bed, you would always be able to see out of the windows, and fall asleep looking out at the city. Edward was so lucky!

On the wall opposite the bed was a large fireplace, above which was a flat screen TV mounted on the wall. This middle part of the wall seemed to protrude further than the two sides of the wall either side, probably for the supply for the fireplace. Two comfortable looking armchairs sat either side of the fireplace, in these slight alcoves in the wall.

Edward picked me up again and sat me on the edge of his bed, facing the large window, and kneeled in front of me. He slowly took my shoes off, massaging my feet.

He suddenly had a towel in his hand and was drying them off for me, continuing to massage them at the same time. He moved up to my ankles and calves, hitching my dress up slowly. He moved my legs apart and kneeled between them, pulling my dress up higher to massage my thighs.

I grabbed his head and pushed his chin up to look at me. I ran my fingers through his hair, and he moaned softly.

He reached up behind my head, and slowly pulled the pins holding my hair up out, to let my hair fall loose. He massaged my scalp, and it was my turn to moan. I took his jacket off and threw it aside, suddenly feeling very warm.

He grabbed the towel again, and dried my soaked hair for me. He stood me up, and turned me around, before pulling the zip of my dress down, and peeling the dress away from my shoulders, and letting it fall to the ground.

He gasped lightly, and began to kiss my shoulders, winding his arms around my waist and pulling me against his chest. "You are so beautiful," he murmured against my back.

I turned around to face him again, and pulled his tie loose, and unbuttoned his chest, to reveal a beautifully toned and muscular body. I ran my fingers over the planes of his chest, before dropping my hands lower to unbuckle his belt, and drop his trousers. He stepped out of them, and reached down to take off his socks, his gaze never leaving my face, leaving him standing before me in just his boxers.

He pushed me towards the bed, and lay me down carefully in the middle of it, before crawling up my body so he was lying on top of me, but his weight wasn't on me. He began to kiss me again, as my hands knotted in his hair. I broke away to breath, and Edward continued his assault down my neck and to my boobs. He reached behind us and unclasped my bra, paying special attention to my boobs as I moaned, my hands in his hair still.

He broke away, and moved back up to my lips, reaching over to his nightstand. "Shit," he muttered. He looked at me apologetically. "I don't have any condoms," he said, sounding disappointed, and making to get up.

I pulled him back down to me. "Do you trust me? Because I trust you," I said, between kisses. "I'm on the pill?" this last bit came out as more of a question than a statement.

"Of course I trust you," Edward said. He pulled my thong off and threw it aside, and I tried to reach and pull his boxers off, Edward noticed what I was trying to do, and pulled them off, throwing them towards where he had thrown my thong.

I flipped us over, and began to kiss down Edward's chest, but he stopped me. "This night is all about you," he whispered, and flipped us back over.

He lined my entrance up with his giant, erect cock, and slowing entered me. I could feel myself stretch to accommodate him, and we both moaned at the sensation. When he was all the way in, he paused for a moment, before moving inside me, and I moved my hips to meet his thrusts.

I could feel my climax building, and my body was longing to fall over the edge; it had been so long since I had orgasmed from a man.

Edward reached between us, and began to rub my clit, and whispered sweet nothings in my ear. Finally, he whispered "Cum for me Bella," and an orgasm rippled through my body, causing me to scream with the intensity of it, and Edward came moments later, falling on top of me.

He lay there for a few minutes, as we regained our breath, and then rolled onto his back, threading his hands through mine.

"Wow, that was just..." I said sleepily.

"Amazing," he finished.

He rolled me onto my side so that I was looking out of the giant window, and spooned me from behind, his glorious arms wrapped around my waist my head leaned against his chest.

He pulled the duvet over us, and we fell asleep content, watching the city, with not a care in the world, unafraid of what tomorrow would bring.

* * *

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	12. Chapter 12

**Here it is: the morning after!**

**It is taking a while for me to get back to my normal routine of writing and posting the chapters, but I am getting better! Hopefully, I will be back to updating every week again!**

**Thank you as always to all of my readers, reviewers and people who are adding me to alerts, favourites etc.**

**In this chapter, we meet a new character who will become a more prominent person throughout the rest of the story, this is just an introduction to her and her personality (I am not giving anything away about her!)**

******Disclaimer: Stephanie Meyer owns the characters, this plot is mine though!**

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**EPOV**

The next morning, I awoke to the most beautiful sight imaginable.

Bella was lying on her side, leaned up against my chest, her hair lying naturally around her head, and the navy blue of my sheets contrasting with her porcelain skin.

I watched her sleep a while, the sun pouring in through the windows, casting a glow around the room.

After a while, she began to stir, and I placed light kisses against her shoulders. "Morning sunshine," I whispered, and she smiled and turned her head towards me, kissing me lightly on the lips.

She turned to lie on her back, and I propped myself up on one elbow, threading my fingers through hers.

"What time is it?" she asked.

"Just after six," I replied.

"Urghh," she groaned. "I should get going."

"No, you shouldn't," I answered. "I lied, it's only four."

"Really?" she said, grinning. "Well mister Cullen, I still need to go."

"No, you're not going anywhere. I won't let you," I smirked, and rolled on top of her, effectively trapping her.

She laughed, and tried to push me away. "Okay fine, I will stay, because Edward Cullen says so. In the famous words of Romeo, I have more care to stay than will to go, so I will stay, and get us both killed by my monstrous husband!"

"No, no, then you must go! Quick, get up!" I joked, getting up quickly and pulling her to her feet. She shrieked, and clutched the sheet to her.

She got up, clutching the sheet to her body. She gave me a pointed look, and I put my hands over my eyes sarcastically, as she started getting dressed into her dress from the night before. I removed my hands, and sat on the bed, watching her. "Won't that look a bit...conspicuous?"

"Yep," she said, pulling the dress on. "But I don't have anything else."

"Why don't you just wear some of my stuff?" I asked.

"Because if I turn up home in the morning in some guy's clothes, James will flip. This way, at least I can make up some story. Can I use your bathroom?" she asked, and I pointed her in the general direction.

I got up with a sigh, and started pulling some clothes on. By the time I was done, Bella had come out of the bathroom, and picked up her purse and shawl. "Do you at least want something to eat?" I asked.

"No thanks, I should get home quickly," she answered apologetically.

"Okay, no problem. Next time then," I winked at her, and she flushed red, opening and closing her mouth, trying to think of something to say.

"What makes you so sure that there will be a next time?" she asked, raising an eyebrow.

"I am just so damn irresistible, women just can't keep away," I winked.

"Oh really? Which women? By the way, your mother doesn't count," she smirked.

"It's not my mother," I said indignantly.

"Sister?"

"Damn you got me!" I laughed, and said "come on then," walking out of the door, picking my keys up off the table.

"What?" she asked, confused.

"I'm driving you home. Like I would let you walk!" I laughed again, leading her out of the house.

"No, honestly-"she protested, and I rounded on her, giving her a withering look.

"I'll drop you off around the corner," I promised, and Bella reluctantly followed me out of the apartment and down to the car.

The drive was silent, and Bella's eyes were fixed in her lap. She looked up and cleared her throat suddenly. "I just wanted to say, thank you for last night. It was amazing, and I can't remember the last time someone treated me like that, like a lady, so thanks," she said, blushing.

"Hey," I said softly, grabbing hold of her hand. "No need to thank me. I did it because I wanted to, and that son of a bitch James doesn't know how lucky he is. If he had any sense, he would treat you like a lady all the time."

Suddenly we were around the corner from her house, and I pulled up to the sidewalk. "What are you going to tell James?" I asked her.

"I'll tell him that...that...I'll think of something on the way home," she said, starting to get out of the car.

I pulled her back in, and kissed her once more.

"Bye," I said, suddenly feeling emptier than I had been a second ago.

"Bye," she said, closing the door, sadness in her eyes. She began to walk down the street, turning a corner, and then she was gone.

I started to drive home again, trying to think of a way to get her away from James.

I quickly parked my car, and walked back up to my apartment, finding that I was no longer tired, so decided to make use of my treadmill and weights bench in my 'gym', which was really the second bedroom.

I had an invigorating workout, before having a long _cold _shower.

I looked at the clock.

_11.43am._

Great. I had the rest of the day still left.

For the rest of the day Bella consumed my thoughts. I could think of nothing else apart from how she bit her lip, her gorgeous pout, her radiant smile...

I lounged around the apartment all day, spending my Sunday alone, trying to drive Bella from my thoughts, without much success.

I decided to do a spot of cleaning, and vacuumed the entire apartment, dusted every possible surface, did my laundry, cleaned the kitchen and bathroom, cleaned the windows, until the apartment was gleaming and my arms were aching. I had worked diligently and vigorously, utilising some pent up energy, and trying to drive thoughts of Bella out of my mind.

I wondered what she had told James.

I glanced at the clock again, and was surprised to find that it was 17.12. I had been cleaning for about six hours.

"_What is wrong with me? God I am turning into a woman," _I thought.

I hadn't eaten much all day, so ordered a pizza and took another shower, changing straight into pyjama bottoms, deciding to go without a shirt. It was too hot anyway.

Trying to restore some of my masculinity, I started watching the game and cracked open a chilled beer, as I waited for the pizza.

Finally, there was a knock at the door.

I practically began salivating at the thought of the pizza.

I rushed to the door and opened it, and found an all too familiar face delivering my pizza.

"Hello handsome," said the tall, tanned platinum blonde in front of me, dressed in the mandatory uniform, with the cap perched on her head, clutching a pizza box in her manicured hands. She was dressed in an inappropriate black miniskirt and sheer stockings, with black pointed stilettos.

Basically, more slut than pizza girl.

She swept past me and into my apartment. "This place has not changed a bit!" she exclaimed, settling herself into the armchair and tucking into my pizza.

I was still standing by the door in shock.

She caught sight of my expression and laughed at it. "Come over here and give me a proper welcome," she said in a husky voice, patting the arm of the armchair. She threw the pizza box down onto the coffee table.

I finally realised how much of an idiot I looked, so I shut the door and walked in, purposely sitting on a different sofa to her.

I forced myself to look at Lauren Mallory, my ex-girlfriend. She looked just as fake as she had when we were going out.

We had been dating on and off for nine months, before we finally called it quits just three months ago.

"Lauren," I said at last. "What are you doing here?"

"Well, I work for the pizza company at the moment, and when your order came through, I recognised the address. Naturally, I had to take it, just to see how you were." She said this all very quickly, talking as quickly as she always had.

She took her cap off and put it down next to her on the armchair.

"Lauren, why are you really here?" I asked, suspicious. I knew what Lauren was like.

"I just told you," she said, exasperated.

We sat awkwardly for a while, not sure what to do or say to eachother.

"Do you mind if I use your bathroom?" she said after a long uncomfortable silence.

"No, you know where it is," I said, glad for the diversion. Once she came back, I would ask her to leave.

I picked up the pizza box from the table, no longer hungry, and took it into the kitchen as a diversion from Lauren.

I began putting the pizza into the fridge, and breaking down the box.

Once I was finished, I turned around again, intending to go back into the sitting room, but stopped in shock at the sight in front of me.

Lauren was stood in the doorway, propping herself up in the doorframe by resting one elbow against the frame and putting her hand just below her chin, with her other hand on her hip. Her ankles were crossed as she stood, in what she thought was a sexy, seductive, irresistible position.

Oh, and did I mention? She was naked. Apart from the damn shoes.

"Lauren, what are you doing?" I asked her warily. "Where are your clothes? This isn't a good idea."

She began to walk towards me, pouting, and rubbing her hands over her rather large, rather fake chest.

I began to look around desperately for something to cover her up with.

"Lauren, stop it, I'm not interested!" I said, recoiling and backing away, feeling panic rising as I walked into the counter, feeling it dig into my back.

Shit.

She kept walked, licking her lips, until she was standing right in front of me.

I shut my eyes, trying to get across the message that I wasn't interested.

Bad move.

She began to kiss me on the lips fiercely, her hands in my hair, tugging at it by the roots.

I pulled away from her, but she continued kissing my neck.

"Fuck...you are so hot!" she moaned loudly.

I tried to push her away, but she stood firm.

She suddenly grabbed hold of my hands and placed one on each heaving plastic beach ball. Otherwise known as her breasts.

She covered my hands with hers, and began to push down on them, moaning and panting, grinding her ass against my cock, which I might add, was having no effect.

"Lauren, STOP!" I yelled at her, thoroughly pissed by now, but this just seemed to encourage Lauren, who was guiding my hands all over her body.

She pushed her body back into mine harder, crushing my dick with her ass. "Lauren!" I gasped, in agony.

I tried to push her back, but she had my hands in a stronghold, and the harder I pushed against her, the more my dick got crushed.

She continued to moan as she basically explored her own body, due to the fact that there was absolutely no input from me.

She pulled my hands down further towards her slit, when my mind began to function again, after recovering from its initial shock. What had I been thinking? Here was this chick offering herself to me, and I was just standing there?

What is wrong with me?

"Not yet," I whispered in her ear, and began to kiss along her shoulders and neck. Her moans began to increase in both volume and frequency, and she loosened her grip on my hands. I took the opportunity, and turned us around quickly, so that she was pressed up against the counter.

She smirked at me, triumphant in the knowledge that she had cracked me.

Honestly, what on earth had I been thinking before?

"Now Miss Mallory, you are a _very _dirty girl, so I think I need to get you thoroughly cleaned up in the shower," I whispered huskily in her ear, hearing how her breathing hitched and her eyes became even more full of lust. I did what I should have done in the first place, and picked up Lauren Mallory and carried her through to the bathroom.

Her fingers grazed my bare chest as we walked, and she reached down behind me and pinched my ass teasingly.

Once in the bathroom, I placed her down carefully on the closed toilet seat, and kneeled in front of her, looking around the bathroom for what I knew was in here, which would make this _even _more enjoyable.

Finally, I spotted it, or rather _them, _and told Lauren to close her eyes. This was going to be _my _surprise; after all, she had given me one. It was time to return the favour.

And so about ten satisfying minutes later, I was leading a sulking Lauren Mallory out of my front door, fully dressed, having found her pile of clothes in the bathroom and ordering her to get dressed quickly and to never come back, unless she wanted a _very_ sexy date in a prison cell due to her sentence for harassment and sexual abuse.

Needless to say, she hadn't liked my surprise much, when I presented her with her clothes, but I hadn't liked her surprise, so I would say we were even.

I shut the door behind her, relieved that she was finally gone, and disgusted by her little stunt.

I went back into the living room and sat down on the chair where Lauren had been sitting. As I sat down, I noticed a white envelope lying on the rug, partially under the chair. I frowned, reaching down to pick it up, and saw that it had my name written on it, in Lauren's big, messy scrawl, her large rounded letters biting into the white envelope. I chucked the envelope aside onto the coffee table, deciding to look at it later.

I leaned back in my chair and sighed, thinking back to Lauren's shameless entrance. Normally, I would never pass up an opportunity like this, to fuck some random slutty girl, with no strings attached

But Bella Denali had ruined me for everyone. No one would ever be good enough again; not after her.

She was a tough act to follow.

* * *

**So what did you think? What was your favourite part? what did you think of the new character?**

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	13. Chapter 13

**Here it is, the next chapter!**

**Sorry about the huge delay, but as I have mentioned, RL has been kind of rubbish lately, and so I haven't been able to write.**

**This chapter is quite lemony, so feel free to skip it if you want, I won't be offended. Some people will hate me for part of this chapter, and I don't blame you. I hated writing that part, but it needed to happen as part of the plot; all will be revealed in the next few chapters! You will know which bit I mean when you get to it!**

**Thank you as always to all of my readers, reviewers and people who are adding me to alerts, favourites etc.**

******Disclaimer: Stephanie Meyer owns the characters, this plot is mine though!**

* * *

**BPOV**

I paced the width of the room nervously, my bare feet padding across the wood flooring.

It was now Monday night, and James still wasn't home.

As soon as Edward had dropped me off yesterday morning, I had walked back home thinking up numerous stories in my head of where I was. I had rounded onto the drive, and found it empty; James wasn't home.

I had tried to phone him, but he wasn't answering.

As soon as I had come home, I had unwilling washed the smell of Edward off during a long shower and had gotten dressed into jeans and a casual short sleeve t-shirt.

Since then, I had been ringing and ringing James, but he wasn't answering. I had tried some of his friends, but they hadn't seen him either.

In a way, this was good; it meant that James didn't know that I hadn't come home at the night of the party. However, it was always possible that he had come home and then left somewhere just before I got home, and therefore knew that I had been out all night. Plus the fact that I had no idea where he was, or what he was doing.

He could be cutting off Renee's money. Or ending our deal with a divorce. Or could even be passed out somewhere, or kidnapped. The possibilities were endless, and some too horrifying to even consider. As much as I hated the prick, he was my only help at the moment.

However, I didn't have to wait long. At around 11pm, I found out just what my husband had been doing, and it was the last possibility I would have considered.

I heard a car pull up along the gravel drive, and ran to the window, to see if it was James. Sure enough, he was pulling up onto the sweeping driveway, headlights lit in the dark.

I walked towards the front door, my heart hammering furiously. Now that he was here, I felt even more nervous; I had no idea what he had been doing, and I had a feeling that I didn't want to know.

Before I could open the door, it was thrown open, and my husband stumbled in, singing at the top of his lungs, an open bottle of beer clucthed in his hand. Following him was a tall red head, the same woman he had been dancing with at the party. She seemed to be as drunk as him.

I ushered them both into the living, shutting the front door quickly. I followed them into the living room, and sat them both down on opposite couches. I sat on the coffee table in the middle of them both. By now they had both quietened down, and were looking at me in an expectant, mocking way.

"Would you like to explain where you have been?" I asked James, thoroughly annoyed.

"A-a-at 'Tor's house," James stuttered. "Oh, I forgottened, you haven't met 'Ictor, have you B?"

"Victoria," said the red head, flashing me a toothy smile, and extending a hand to me, before falling on the ground. Giggling, she heaved herself back up, but this time on the same couch as James, so they were sitting at each end of the same couch.

"And why were you there?" I asked, through gritted teeth.

"Fucking!" James shouted happily.

I looked between them, taken aback.

"For almost two days?"

"Yep," James beamed. He was suddenly speaking with more clarity, and his speech was less slurred than before.

"Well first, we left the party, and took a cab to Vic's house. We couldn't wait that long though, and so Vic gave me a blow job in the cab. Then we got to her house, and fucked on the lawn for a bit. Then, we went inside, fucked on the stairs. I took her on the kitchen counter, against the front door, on the dining table. Then we went into the bedroom, and fucked on the bed a few times. Then Vicky got out the toys- now _that _was fun. She has whips, handcuffs, blindfolds...and then she got the dildo out, and fucked me from behind..." James seemed to have gone into a day dream. "...yeah, that was good. Then we did doggy style..."

"Okay James, I get the picture," I said, having heard enough.

"No!" James cried. "You have to hear all of it!" He threw a nearby vase at me, and I shut up, feeling repulsed by what I was hearing, and the openness and detail with which James was describing it.

"We did that up until around midday yesterday, and then slept all afternoon. Then woke up, showered, _together_, then...then...what was next?"

"The porn!" Victoria shouted.

"Oh yeah! Then we watched some porn, Vic jacked me off, and I fingered her, then we had a little oral sex..."

"So basically, you did it all," I said dryly, trying to end the conversation.

"Yep." James looked very smug with himself. "48 hours of non-stop sex and drinking!"

I noticed that James had become a little _too _excited.

"It was so much fun! Why do we never try that stuff?" James whined. "Victoria's pussy tastes _divine_!"

"How lovely," I said sarcastically. "So now I have a low down on your rampant sex life, can I speak?" I didn't wait for an answer. "Basically, you cheated on me. And not only did you cheat on me, you have given me a full account of your escapades, for which you have no shame." I didn't try to mask the anger in my voice.

"You sound sexy when you are angry," James moaned.

I stared at him in disbelief. Did he have no shame? However, this was nothing compared to what he did next.

"Keep talking," he begged, unzipping his trousers, and taking his erect dick in his hand. Then, Victoria decided to join in, and started fucking jacking him off.

"That's it babe," she whispered, biting his earlobe and moving her hand up and down his shaft, as the room filled with moans. "You were right, she does have the sexiest voice."

I sat, stunned.

"Excuse me?" I said, embarrassed. Neither of them moved, so I stood up and slapped Victoria.

The sound echoed through the room, and Victoria gasped in shock.

The room fell silent.

Victoria got up from the couch, and stood in front of me.

"Do you mind not hand fucking my husband in front of me," I said coldly.

James meanwhile, the fucker, was still jacking off.

"Isabella," he said calmly. "Do not treat my friends like that. I am not happy with you today."

"James, I am not a fucking child, don't you dare talk to me like that!" I yelled, feeling suddenly confident.

James continued regardless. "Isabella, I want you to make it up to Victoria. Do whatever she asks you."

"No!" I yelled, indignantly.

"I will pay you," Victoria said, licking her lips. "James has told me your story before. I can help you. Name the price."

I realised the type of 'help' she wanted, and stood aghast, staring at them both in horror.

She was advancing towards me. I stepped back, and felt the coffee table press into the backs of my calves.

"I won't do it, no matter how much you pay me," I said, shaking my head. I got the impression that nothing that I said would make a difference to either of them.

"Come on Bella, no one will ever know. James has told me all about your _extremely _talented mouth. I just want you to pleasure me with it."

I felt appalled, as she edged closer to me.

"How does $2,000 sound?" I didn't answer. "$5,000?" I still stayed silent.

"God James, you bought an expensive little cunt didn't you?"

"I sure did," James moaned, still jacking. How long does it fucking take? "But she's one of the best _cunts_ you will ever find. Isabella, I want you to pleasure Victoria." There was a pause. "I mean it, or the whole deal is off."

James had me backed into a corner. I thought through my options quickly. There weren't many.

"$7,000, no more," said Victoria.

"Come on Bella, she has offered you $7,000. If you do it, I will give you another $5,000 myself," the bastard said.

I weighed it out in my head.

Gain $12,000 for Renee, keep my steady income, meaning that I would have to stay married to James for less time, however lose the little dignity I had left.

Or gain no money, lose the marriage and therefore income, however keep the tiny shred of dignity I had left, which James would probably take off me anyway by telling the whole city about our 'marriage'.

I turned around quickly, pushing Victoria against the coffee table. I pushed her again, so that she was sat on the edge of the table.

She eagerly pulled her skirt off, and ripped off her blouse, leaving her just in some skimpy underwear. She quickly pulled off her thong, leaving her disgusting shaved slit exposed.

When I was little, I used to hate taking medicine. I hated the taste, the smell, the look, everything about that thick, sticky, gloopy liquid that would stick to your throat when it was going down. Renee always used to tell me to just shut my eyes and take it. The sooner I did it, the sooner it would be over with.

And so I did.

I shut my eyes, and licked all the way up Victoria's fucking _divine pussy_, as James had put it. Personally, I didn't see it as divine, it tasted bitter and gloopy.

Victoria moaned loudly, throwing her head back, and putting her disgusting hands in my hair.

I tried not to think about what I was doing, which worked for a while.

She carried on moaning, and tugging my hair.

"Fuck...Bella...don't stop..." she whimpered. "I want to feel your tongue deep, deep, _deep _inside me."

So I began to thrust my tongue in and out of her, as she pushed her core closer to my mouth.

She reached over and kicked James. He willingly got up, the puppy that he is, and stood behind her, craning his neck over her shoulder, and putting her nipple in his mouth.

"_Oh my gosh, I am in a bloody threesome!" _I thought, feeling embarrassed, but I couldn't stop now.

Victoria and James' moans echoed throughout the room.

"James, _fuck me_" Victoria groaned, sounding desperate, as she stood up.

James did as she said, and stripped off, before ramming his cock into her, anally, whilst I was still licking her as well.

_God, that made it sound even more disgusting; I didn't even know that was possible. _

Victoria reached round and wound her arms around James' neck as he pounded into her furiously, still latched onto her boob.

Their moaning became more frequent and louder, until they both came, and the ordeal was over.

They sank onto the coffee table, and started going at it like animals, so I figured that I wouldn't be missed, and made my escape, to take a much needed shower and partake in some thorough brushing of the teeth, before going to bed, to the sound of crashing and moaning.

The next morning when I awoke, I was alone in my bed, and there were two cheques on my bedside table, one for $7,000 and the other for $5,000; one from each of the fuckbirds.

My house was in destruction; all of the furniture had been overturned and there were empty alcohol bottles everywhere. I sighed, as I thought of all the cleaning that I would need to do after work. Thankfully, fucker and fuckerette were nowhere to be seen, and James; car was gone from the driveway.

I drove to work, with the cheques firmly in my bag, I would cash them into the bank after work.

I felt like a money grabbing whore, which I suppose I was, but I had been left with no other option.

I pulled into my usual parking spot, and walked the five minutes to my bakery, where a familiar bronze haired man was sat on the steps.

"Hey stranger," I said, as I unlocked the door.

"Hey beautiful," he answered, getting to his feet, as he followed me into the bakery.

I walked over behind the counter, putting my bag down and grabbing my apron off the hook. Edward began to go round and take the chairs off the tables, as if he did it everyday.

"So what did you tell James?" Edward asked.

"Oh, nothing, he was asleep when I got in, and he didn't even mention that I had been gone or anything. I think he was so drunk that he didn't notice last night." The lie rolled off my tongue easily. I couldn't tell Edward; if I did, then I would have to tell him the whole story, everything about Victoria, and I couldn't do that. Not yet. I didn't want to lower myself any further in his eyes than I already had. He already saw me as a whore; he didn't need to see just how much of a whore I was. Not yet, at least. I would have to tell him eventually.

"That was lucky," Edward said.

"Mmm," I agreed, feeling guilty for the lie.

The air went slightly tense, as we worked in silence.

"After you left yesterday, I had a surprise visitor," Edward began.

"Really? Who?"

He proceeded to tell me about how some girl had asked to use the bathroom, and come out naked and feeling herself while grinding Edward, and we laughed for ages at the story, at the audacity of the girl.

When we had calmed down a bit, I asked Edward "What did you say her name was?"

"Lauren," he answered.

"Tall, blonde, big boobs? Nasal voice?" I asked.

"Yes, why? Do you know her?" his brow furrowed in confusion.

"Lauren Mallory?"

"Yep."

I began to laugh hysterically, pointing at Edward and holding onto the counter for support. Between laughs, I choked out "You're...hahaha! You're thumper!" I screamed in laughter, and Edward looked at me, confused.

"What?"

"I have a friend who knows her, and we went out for drinks once, and Lauren was there, and obviously my friend recognised her. We started talking to her, and found out that her boyfriend was called Eddie, and he was soooo good in bed, she called him Thumper!"

"Shit," Edward muttered. "What else did she say about me?"

"Well, and remember she was pretty hammered when we were talking, that you have a gigantic cock, and she loves the feeling of it pounding into her always-ready pussy, she can't get enough of you, sex is never boring with you, you are just insatiable, you have a fantastic mouth, she loves your 'magic fingers'-"

"Okay, okay, stop!" Edward yelled, putting his hands over his ears, as I laughed.

Finally, I stopped laughing, and got on with some work, while Edward watched from the counter, where he was sitting.

"Oh Edward?" I asked.

"Yes love?"

I walked over to him and breathed "I totally agree with her," and watched as his eyes turned darker and his jaw dropped. I winked and walked away.

He grabbed hold of my waist from behind and pulled me back towards him, sitting me in his lap. "Oh really?" he murmured, kissing my neck.

I tried to keep my voice steady and bright. "Yep!"

His hands began to roam over my stomach and waist, as he continued to kiss my neck.

I suddenly began to feel uncomfortable as I remembered the night before, and shame flooded. I pulled away, and got back to work, not meeting Edward's intense gaze.

"Bella?" he asked, sounding concerned, but not moving from where he was.

"Sorry, I suddenly remembered that I had to check on the cookies in the oven," I babbled quickly.

"Did something happen with James?"

"No," I said slowly, beginning to pipe icing onto a cake.

"Really?" he asked, one eyebrow raised.

"Mmhmm," I said, trying to sound normal.

"Bella, what's going on?" he asked. "You haven't looked at me once since you got here. Is it because of what happened the other night?"

"What? No, no honey!" I walked around the counter towards him, but he got up quickly, knocking my bag off the counter. The contents of my bag spread across the floor.

Edward and I bent down to pick it all up quickly. I picked up the bag, and started shoving stuff in it.

"Bella?" Edward said slowly, and I turned to look at him.

His head was bent down and he was looking at something in his hands.

He turned and looked at me, his deep emerald eyes penetrating deep into mine. "What is this?"

I looked at the cheques in his hands, and grabbed them off him quickly.

"Okay, I thought that you trusted me enough to tell me shit like this, but obviously not," Edward said angrily. "Who is this Victoria, and why is she paying you so much money?"

"Edward I do trust you-"

"Then why didn't you tell me?"

He got up, and walked quickly towards the door. "I will find out for myself, seeing as you don't trust me."

"No Edward, listen-" I pleaded.

"No Bella, you listen!" he turned around furiously. "What am I to you? I thought we had something, but people who have something tend to trust each other, tell each other their problems. Apparently, you don't trust me, seeing as you won't tell me your problems, so what am I supposed to think? Is this some game for you? Fuck me and then leave? Because I sure as hell don't see it like that!" Edward shouted, and I was left speechless, still kneeling on the ground.

_Was that what he thought?_

"Well, if you won't tell me, I will find out myself," and he stormed out, slamming the door behind him, leaving me watching him walk away, unable to say anything.

* * *

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	14. Chapter 14

**Here it is, the next chapter!**

**Sorry again about the huge delay, but I am going through quite a rough patch. Thank you for all of the supportive messages and reviews, I really appreciate them, and I really appreciate you continued patience with me. **

**Thank you to the anonymous reviewer who sent me the really long review, I loved reading your review (I love long reviews- what can I say, I'm a greedy bitch :), and thank you to the other anonymous reviewer with the short but sweet review. As always, thanks to the usual suspects (star-Rose-01, queen cullen0527, teambellaedward), as well as new reviewers jeangary28 and kashkee. **

**Quick message to teambellaedward: Unfortunately, your privacy settings do not allow me to send you previews at the moment, I am not intentionally missing you off the list, however I really appreciate your reviews :) I try sending you a preview for every chapter, however I physically can't at the moment. **

**Thank you as always to all of my readers, reviewers and people who are adding me to alerts, favourites etc.**

******Disclaimer: Stephanie Meyer owns the characters, this plot is mine though!**

******Enough talking by me, let's get on with it!**

******Enjoy!**

* * *

**EPOV**

I walked quickly, fuming. I walked with long, angry strides, slowing down as I reached the end of the street, as it suddenly hit me how unfairly I had treated Bella. On the one hand, I had been fully justified to do what I did, but on the other hand, it's not as though I'm her mother that I have to know everything she does all of the time.

I crossed to the other side of the road, thinking carefully.

I had acted like an ass; there was no way now that Bella would want anything to do with me. This thought weighed on my mind like a tonne of bricks. I saw a park bench, and went to sit down, rubbing my hands over my face, trying to think of what to do next.

I couldn't go back to Bella yet, not after the way that I had behaved with her.

I sat on the bench for ages, trying to think of the best thing to do next, and so I came up with a solution. I was going to find out once and for all the entire story, so that I could help Bella. But I wasn't going to do it through Bella.

The next day at work, I walked into James's office. "Hey James," I said pleasantly.

"Hey Edward," James said, briefly looking up from the pile of papers he was reading.

"I was wondering if you wanted to go out and hit some bars tonight. It's been a long time since we did that," I said, trying to sound genuinely friendly.

"Sure," James said easily. "I'm not doing anything better."

"Great, we'll start at our usual club, I'll meet you there after work," I said, walking out of the office and making a mental note to charge my phone up later. This whole plan would be useless if my phone was out of battery.

Next, I rang Emmett. "Hey Em, James is coming, we are good to go."

"What? Is James coming with us to the bars later? I thought you hated that guy?" Emmett said.

"I do, and that is why he is coming with us. I am going to get him drunk, and get him to tell me about his and Bella's marriage. Is Alice working tonight?"

"I think so, Jasper was saying something about it, that's why he's coming," Emmett replied. "Why?"

"We are going to need her help."

Me, Emmett and Jasper arrived at the club at around 8pm, and headed straight to the bar, where Alice was arguing with a drunken guy about the cost of all the drinks.

"You have had four gin and tonics, two Jack Daniel's and a French Connection. That adds up to $48 you jackass!" Alice said, with her arms folded over her chest and a menacing look in her eyes.

They guy handed over the money, grumbling. "Don't think you're getting a tip," he slurred.

"What was that?" Alice barked.

"Jeez lady, nothing." He slammed several bills on the counter and stumbled out.

"Hey guys," Alice said, her grin widening as she counted the money.

"Hey Ali, I need your help. In a bit, there is going to be a guy join us. I need you to be in charge of our drinks. None of us three are drinking, but we need to ply the other guy will alcohol, so he doesn't know what he is saying and won't remember telling us anything, but not so much that he will pass out," I explained, not even sure if I was making sense or not, however Alice seemed to understand me.

"Okay, so I will send you guys things like water in shot glasses, fruit juice in cocktails glasses, that kind of thing," she said, as if this kind of thing was normal for her. "The drinks with blue umbrellas in are the alcoholic ones, and so give them to the guy. As for the shots, I will send him shots with slices of lime in, yours will all have lemon in. He won't even notice after a few drinks."

I was becoming quite disconcerted with my sister's knowledge in this field.

Just then, Emmett began tugging on my arm. "He's here," he muttered.

"Okay," I said.

"Alice, can you please hand us some drinks please?" I said.

"Here you go, orange juice," she said, handing us each a cocktail glass full of orange juice. "I'll make him an orange cocktail to look like you drinks," she said, as I waved at James. He caught sight of me and waved, making his way over to us.

"Hi guys. What are you drinking? Looks good," he said, rubbing his hands together.

"Here's one for you sir," Alice said, handing him a glass of stuff that looked identical to ours.

"Thank you," he said, winking at her, before taking a sip of his drink. "Man that hits the spot! Why don't we sit down?"

"Sure," Jasper said, picking up his drink and moving towards a table.

"James, I'm not sure that you've met Emmett and Jasper, two of my best friends. Emmett is also my cousin," I said, introducing everyone, and sat quietly while they all shook hands with each other.

We sat and talked for a while about general stuff, things in the news, work, that kind of thing.

Soon, James began slurring his words. Man, that guy is shit at handling his alcohol.

I waited for two more drinks to go down, before starting the microphone on my phone, and giving Emmett the signal to go in for the kill.

"So James, are you married?" Emmett asked.

"Yep, her names Bella, she is one hot piece of ass!" Yeah, he was drunk.

"How long have you been married?" Jasper asked.

"One...two...seven months...fourteen..." he counted on his fingers. "I can't remember!" he cried out, before laughing hysterically. "But I do know that we are getting divorced in October."

"Why?" I asked, puzzled.

"Cuz that's when the contract ends!" James said, as if I was stupid for not knowing this.

"What contract?" I asked.

"I pay Bella $40,000 a year. Her mother had an accident and got ill or some shit, and her medical bills were too high for Bella to afford. So I bought her, for three years until she has enough to pay off the bills. In October, the three years will be up, and I will have paid her $120,000 for everything."

"So basically, you bought a wife?" Jasper asked.

"Yep. My friend Jane owns a whorehouse. Bella turned up there, claiming to need lots of money fast, and she had no alternative. So Jane rang me up. She knew that for such a high profile businessman, a respectful wife is essential to succeed in society. Jane said that the girls looked like the type of wife someone like me would have, and plus she was smokin' hot. So I agreed. During the day, Bella is my dutiful wife. At night, she is my fuck hot whore." James told us all this with a sense of pride. "I own her fucking ass!"

"I suppose you could do anything to her if you own her, like sex whenever, treat her how you want, beat her..." I trailed off.

"Yep, and I try to get my money's worth," James said happily, taking a swig of his drink.

"So you hit her?"

"Frequently," James said casually. "Sometimes, so hard that she can't walk properly for a week. Once, I fucked her so hard that she could barely move for three days!" The sick bastard was feeling immensely pleased with himself. "Just the other day, I gave her a huge bonus. You know that night of the big function?"

"Yes," I said, with a feeling of dread.

"That night, I went over to another chick's house, we had a fuck and drink fest for about three days. When I went home, I demanded that Bella please Victoria...you know, sexually. I made her fuck her with her mouth and that talented little tongue of hers, in order for a huge bonus. Me and Victoria both paid her."

Emmett and Jasper looked disgusted at James, and I felt even worse for the way I had acted towards Bella. That must have been what the cheques had been for, and that must have been why she wasn't herself that day, and I just completely blew her off. Shit.

"I'm going to be sorry to see her go. She was a good whore. I'll have to get another one when the contract runs out. Or maybe Bella would stay married to me?"

I stopped the recording.

"Don't hold your breath," I said, and swung my fist to connect with his jaw.

"Come on," I said to Emmett and Jasper. "We're leaving."

We all piled into my car, and I drove towards my apartment.

"Fucking hell," Emmett said, sounding guilty. "I had no idea."

"I didn't know that the situation was this bad. What shall we do now?" I said.

"We need to go and see Bella before we do anything else, and show her the recording. Then, we need to see what she thinks is the best move," Jasper said.

"Okay, are we going now?" Emmett asked.

"I think we need to," I said grimly, turning back around and driving towards Bella's house.

"Edward, you do realise, that when we go to the cops about this, Bella could be convicted for prostitution," Jasper said gently.

I gripped the steering wheel tightly. "I know," I said, through gritted teeth. "Do any of you know what the charges could be?"

"To have a hooker? Nope, never had one," Emmett said.

"No you ass wipe! Charges in terms of _punishment _for prostitution," I snapped.

"Oh shit, sorry Edward. All those drinks have gone straight to my head," Emmett apologised.

"You didn't drink anything alcoholic," Jasper said, confused, not looking up from what he was doing on his phone.

"Whose fault is that?" Emmett glared at me.

"Okay, according to this website, in the state of New York, prostitution is classed as a Class B misdemeanour, and you can get up to three months in prison and/or a $500 fine," Jasper said, reading off his mobile screen.

"So she could get both of those?" I asked.

"Yep," Jasper said. "For employing the services of a prostitute, you can get up to one year and/or a $1000 fine. James would be facing more though, as his is an example of keeping a sex slave, plus he would lose his license to co-own the hospital."

I pulled into Bella's neighbourhood.

"Hey Jas, you remember that friend of Alice's? I can't remember her name, the lawyer?" I said, trying to think of a solution.

"Bit of an odd time Edward, but yeah, I'll ask Alice to set you guys up," Jasper said distractedly.

"What? No!" I said. "What was her name? You know, the blonde girl?"

"Rosalie?"

"Yeah her. She's a lawyer right?" I asked.

"Yeah, why? You want her to fight Bella's case if this goes to court?" Jasper asked.

"Yes, I think that if we explained the situation to her, between us we could come up with some sort of loophole or reasonable explanation to make sure that Bella isn't convicted, but none of us have the legal knowledge. We'd need someone who does to help," I said, as I parked on Bella's driveway.

"Don't mention that to Bella yet though, we don't want to panic her or anything," I added.

We got out of the car and walked up the driveway and up the steps to the porch. Jasper knocked on the door.

Bella opened the door, dressed casually in sweatpants and a t-shirt, with her hair tied up in a messy ponytail.

"Hi," she said, looking confused.

"Hey Bella," Emmett said warmly.

"Hi," I said quietly, feeling embarrassed given the circumstances under which I had ended our last conversation.

"Hi, I'm Jasper," said Jasper, introducing himself. "Edward and Emmett's friend, and also Edward's younger sister's boyfriend."

"Hi Jasper, I don't think we've met," Bella said politely.

"No, but I have heard about your wonderful culinary skills. These guys are always going on about how amazing your food is, I've been meaning to pay your bakery a visit."

_Fucking smooth talker._

"Thank you," Bella said, blushing. "The food's okay I suppose. I've had better though."

"Actually Bella, we came to talk to you about something important," I cut in.

"Umm...okay, come on in then," she said, looking unsure. She moved out of the way so that we could enter, and locked the door behind us. Probably in case James came home.

"Go through into the living room," she said from behind us, and I lead the guys into the lounge.

There was an open book lying on the couch, with a crumpled blanket on the sofa, and a glass of wine on the coffee table.

"Sorry for interrupting you," Emmett said, obviously taking in the scene at the same time as me.

Bella waved him off. "Not at all," she said, folding up the blanket and moving the book and glass to the side. "Can I get you guys a drink, or something to eat?" she asked as we sat down.

"No thanks, we're good," Jasper said.

"Okay," Bella said, as she sat down on the arm chair. "Is everything okay?"

Us guys all looked at each other, each of us motioning to one of the others to start.

I sighed and began. "We went out to a club tonight with James, he may have mentioned it?"

Bella shook her head. "Nope, he said he was going out but he didn't say where or who with and I didn't ask."

"Well, James got very drunk there, and- well, you need to hear something," I said, getting my phone out. I played the recording, and Bella went ghostly pale.

"Shit," she cursed. Then she turned on me.

"I thought I told you to stay out of my business!" she yelled. "What is it to you? It makes no difference to you at all!"

"Yes it fucking does, because I like you! I like you a lot! That one night that I spent with you was a hell of a lot better than any other girl I have ever slept with! You mean a lot to me Bella, so don't tell me that it makes no difference to me!" I shouted, already pissed.

"Okay, calm down," Jasper commanded. "Bella, what do you want to do about this now? We aren't going to do anything without your permission, nobody else knows about this."

"Yeah, it's your call. Whatever you want to do, that is exactly what we will do. We're not going to go to the cops or anything if you don't want us to," Emmett said.

Bella took a deep breath. "If we take that to the cops, I'll also go down. I'll be sentenced for prostitution."

"We looked into that on the way here. The most you can get is three months and a $500 fine, but I know this amazing lawyer. We could get her involved to fight your case. She very, _very _rarely loses a case, and she is about the same age as us, so she'll understand you completely. She's only been qualified a year and a half, but she already has a great reputation. We could probably get the prison sentence knocked off, and the fine isn't too much of a problem," Jasper explained. "If we work together with her, we can probably find a loophole to get you out completely free."

"Come on Bella, you're a victim in this, you've got hardly anything to lose," Emmett said, pleading with her.

Bella looked at each of us, first at Jasper and Emmett's pleading faces, and then looked over my silent, stoic frame.

She sighed. "What's this woman's name?"

"Rosalie Hale," Jasper replied.

"The name sounds familiar," Bella said, distractedly. "Where have I heard it?" she said, more to herself than anyone else.

"What do you say Bella?" Emmett asked.

"I say...okay, I'm in!" she said, trying to fight the smile that was threatening to break out. Emmett ran over to her and gave her a huge bear hug, lifting her right out of the armchair and swinging her around as she laughed.

"I can't believe that I am finally going to be shot of the creep!" she said happily, smiling freely.

She got down and hugged Jasper, who surprised her by giving her a kiss on the cheek. "Don't worry Bella, we'll get you out of this," he said reassuringly.

"I know," she said, smiling.

She walked over to me, where I was still sat on the couch, arms folded.

"Hey," she said softly, cupping my cheek and turning my face to hers. "I like you a lot too Mr. Cullen," she said softly, and gave me a soft kiss on my lips, pressing her lips against mine so lightly that I thought that I was imagining the kiss, before pulling away, and going back to join Emmett and Jasper, who were watching with smug expressions on their faces.

Emmett picked her back up again, and I sat there grinning like a moron. I caught Jasper's eye, and he mouthed to me "You love her."

I shook my head, still sporting the shit ass grin, but began to think.

Was he right?

* * *

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	15. Chapter 15

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* * *

BPOV

That night, I sunk into my bed, content in the knowledge that I could be free.

I had never allowed myself to think of leaving before, over the last few years. I quietly persevered, patiently waiting for the day that I could leave, happy in the knowledge that I had done all that I could for Renee, the woman who did everything she could for me since my birth.

I was also slightly hesitant however; I wasn't sure what James would do and how he would react to this. He had hundreds of friends out there, friends who would be willing to do anything he told them in exchange for a reasonable amount of money.

The more I thought about it, the less inviting the plan became, and the instant consent that I had given a few hours ago started to feel like a huge mistake.

I turned to my nightstand and looked at the clock. It was coming up to about midnight. I picked up my mobile to call Edward and tell him my fears, when I suddenly realised that I didn't have his number.

I got out of bed and padded downstairs, grabbed the phonebook and sunk back into my bed.

I looked in the book and found three listed E. Cullen's. I took a guess and picked the middle number, and sure enough moments later a tired sounding Edward answered.

"Hello?"

"Edward? It's Bella," I said, suddenly nervous as hell for what I was about to say.

"Bella? Is everything okay?" he asked, sounding concerned. "It's quite late," he said.

_Really? I had no fucking clue._

"Yeah, everything's fine, don't panic. I just needed to tell you something..." I paused.

"Yes?" he said expectantly a few moments later.

"Idontwanttodoit," I said, all in one breath.

"Slow down Bella," Edward said.

"I don't want to go through with the plan," I repeated slowly.

"What?" Edward said loudly. "Why the hell not?"

"Because, I need the money, and plus he could do anything to me if I leave before the contract. I'll just wait until October when the contract ends, and we'll do a legal divorce then, nothing needs to get messy."

"Bella," Edward groaned. I could hear the anguish in his voice. "Just...arghh," he said. "Just take some time to think, don't rule it out all together. Just think it over for a few days."

"Okay," I sighed. "Can you tell Emmett and Jasper please? Just so that they don't get in contact with a lawyer or anything."

"Sure," he said. "I'll do it now."

"Thanks Edward," I said.

"No problem."

"Oh, by the way, when is my dear husband getting home?" I asked.

"He's not back?"

"Nope."

"Last I saw him, he was lying on the floor of the bar after I punched him, so I honestly don't know," Edward said. "Son of a bitch," he added.

"Edward, why did you hit him?" I said sternly.

"Because I wanted to?" he said, more as a question than an answer. "Okay, I need to go call Jasper and Emmett. Bye love," he said, hanging up.

_Love? Did he just call me love?_

I wondered if it was deliberate or a slip of the tongue.

I tried to lay awake and wait for James to get home, but eventually sleep overtook me.

When I woke up the next morning, James wasn't in bed. I called his name, but no one answered.

I got out of bed and began walking through the house, calling him.

I decided to phone him on his phone, but he wasn't answering.

I got myself ready to go to work, hoping that he would be home by the time I finished work. I didn't fancy a repeat of what had happened the last time he had gone missing for a few days.

Emmett came by to the bakery that morning for his usual snack and sat down on one of the stools, as I thought about what to make him.

"How about an espresso with a slice of chocolate cake?" I suggested.

"Perfect," Emmett beamed, and I set to work. "I got a call from Edward last night," he said conversationally. "You don't want to go through with it anymore?"

"That's not what I said," I sighed heavily. "I just think that I need time to think this through properly. Yesterday I just agreed to it straight away, I just thought of my freedom, I didn't of any consequences or the long process. I want to make sure that I fully understand what I am getting into before agreeing to anything completely, and committing myself to something that I'm going to regret later."

Emmett nodded. "I see where you're coming from, I really do, but I just don't want James to do something else to you."

"That's just something I'll have to risk," I said grimly, sliding Emmett's food to him.

"Okay, well it's your call Bells," he said, taking a sip of his drink.

The rest of the day passed uneventfully, and by the time it was time to go home, a certain panic had set in as to whether or not James would be home.

I drove home quickly, and parked in my usual spot on the drive next to James' car, which didn't appear to have moved and inch; he had taken a cab to the bar, and so his car had been left at home.

I grabbed my bag and rushed to the front door, let myself in quickly and called for James.

"In here," he called, and I felt a sense of relief.

I followed his voice into the living room, where he was sat on the armchair, holding ice to his eye.

"Hi," I said. "What happened to you?"

"I don't know," he said, looking genuinely puzzled. "I remember going to the bar with Edward and some of his friends, having a few drinks, a good time. Next thing I remember is waking up in a hospital bed. Apparently some fucker punched me in the face, and they wanted to check that my nose wasn't broken. Some guy took me to the emergency room apparently, and I passed out there, so they put me in a bed with a drip, I was dehydrated, the doctors said I drank too much."

He shifted the ice a bit, and I caught sight of a large bruise forming around his eye.

"What do you want for dinner?" I asked him.

"I'm not really hungry," he replied. "I'm really tired, so I think I'm just going to go to bed." He got up from the chair and started to go upstairs slowly. I watched after him confused. He had not said one horrid thing to me, or demanded any form of sexual favour.

I needed to get in contact with the guy who punched him, and send him a fucking bunch of flowers and a huge bottle of wine.

Then I remembered what Edward had said.

"_Last I saw him, he was lying on the floor of the bar after I punched him."_

I really did need to send him a thank you present.

I decided to treat myself to a Chinese, and after checking again that James didn't want anything, ordered myself a beef noodle soup, with spicy duck spring rolls and stir fried vegetables with a small bottle of coke, and odd combination I know, but they all sounded so delicious that it was hard to pick just one.

The guy on the phone told me that the food would take about thirty minutes, and so while I was waiting, I took a quick shower and got dressed into some comfy sweats and a hoodie. As I was brushing through my wet hair, the doorbell rang, so I quickly finished my hair, grabbed my purse and ran downstairs to get my food.

Once I had paid, I took my food into the sitting room, and got comfortable on the couch with a blanket. I turned off the lights, instead turning on the small lamp next to me, and switched on the TV, and started to watch some chick flick on the movie channel.

I managed to eat everything, despite them all being full portioned main courses, and I was still hungry, so I went to the freezer and grabbed a tub of Ben and Jerry's Chocolate Fudge Brownie ice cream and a spoon and managed to polish off half of the tub.

I went to sleep right there, on the couch, feeling too exhausted to move.

The next morning, I woke up early to the sun pouring into the room.

I felt fresh and energised, and got up and went straight into the shower to get ready for work.

By the time I was finished and back downstairs, I found James also dressed for work sat at the kitchen table, cradling a cup of coffee, the bruising on his face looking worse than it had the night before.

"Hey you," I said, feeling unexplainably happy. Probably a delayed sugar rush from last night.

"Morning," James said.

"Do you want anything? I felt like making myself an omelette, do you want one?" I asked.

"Sounds great," James replied. "Bella, I wanted to ask you something."

"Go ahead," I said, taking the carton of eggs out of the fridge.

"Do you think that we ever could've made _us _work, if I hadn't been such a pig?"

His question threw me a bit. Where was this coming from? "James, what's brought this on?" I asked.

"Nothing, I just had a dream last night, where we were a normal couple and it was such a good dream. We were happy, and in love..." he trailed off. "When I woke up, it suddenly hit me what a bastard I've been. I haven't exactly made this all easy for you."

"Wow, umm...I don't know what to say," I said, speechless.

"Well, I was thinking this morning...why don't we give it another shot? You are exactly the type of wife that I need."

I dropped the bowl I had been holding. "Are you being serious?" I asked.

"Yes," James said. "I think that if we made it work, we could have something amazing," he said earnestly, with conviction in his voice.

"James, I'm not sure," I said.

"Just think about it," James begged.

I agreed reluctantly, as I poured the eggs into the frying pan to cook. My happy mood had suddenly evaporated.

I cooked the two omelettes and slid one in front of James, before taking my plate and sitting down at the table.

I ate quickly, lost deep in my thoughts.

The rest of the day passed in a blur as I thought of what James had said. I couldn't agree to him, he had made my life a misery since the day I had met him. He was a sick, disgusting, abusive jerk. I didn't even need to think about this, I knew what my answer was going to be.

That afternoon, I decided to eat out and treat myself again, and so I went for dinner to Bella Italia, deciding to take the opportunity to write some more of my story, as Carlisle had asked me to.

_AUGUST 2006_

_Since that day three weeks ago at the hospital, I thought through various options that I had. There weren't many. _

_I had taken a huge loan from the bank that day, $110,000 so that I could pay for all of the treatments for Renee all in one go. At least that way, I would have one less thing to worry about: payment due dates. _

_At the time, I didn't consider how I would pay back the loans quickly, the amount of which were rapidly increasing due to interest. _

_My job at the local diner didn't pay well enough for me to handle all of the costs. Jacob had offered numerous times to pitch in with the costs, but even his wages as a mechanic added to my wages weren't enough to cover even half of the costs. _

_I had been to innumerable job interviews, but in Forks, Washington, none of the jobs were high-power enough to earn as much as I needed. I had even driven to Seattle and tried out a few job interviews, but nothing came close to the amount I needed in the time that I needed it. _

_Apparently, some clause in the small print of my contract with the bank, stated that I needed to pay back the loan within 180 days. Six months. I had been unaware of this fact until I got a phone call from the bank last week. Bastards._

_I had six months to find a job and earn the enormous amount of money, and in Forks that simply wasn't going to happen. _

_And so I made a snap decision to go and make it big someplace else, the place where anybody can strike it rich. New York City. _

_I sat down with Jacob one evening and spoke to him of my idea. _

"_I think that I should go and seek a job in New York," I said to him over dinner. _

"_Are you sure?" he asked. "Can you afford that?"_

"_I looked online earlier at flights; I can get flights for as cheap as $600. Between the money we both have saved up, we can at least afford the ticket. You remember my friend Angela?"_

"_Angela Weber?" he asked, taking a bite of the lasagne._

"_Yep. She lives in New York, I spoke to her earlier on the phone and she said that I could stay with her for as long as I need to, until I get on my feet. We're really good friends, we used to be inseparable, even now she's my best friend. I could get a job in New York, me and you could open up a joint account, and every month I could transfer my wages into the joint account and you could pay the bank."_

"_Wow, you've really thought this through, huh?" Jacob said. _

"_Yep. The idea hit me this morning, and I spent the rest of the day looking into it."_

"_Bella, what if you didn't find a job there?" Jacob asked. "Then you will have gone there for nothing as well as wasted time when you could have been working."_

"_Angela said that there is a vacancy in her publishing company, I could put in for the job. Her uncle owns the company, she is certain that she can get me a job there."_

"_Are you sure about all this Bells? You could just as easily stay here, find a job in Seattle. I'll find one too, between us and our two jobs each, we could do it," he reasoned, for the millionth time. _

"_No Jacob. I want to do this alone, I can't ask you to do that for me. You have your own father to look out for," I said._

"_Well, if that's what you want to do, then I'm behind you every step of the way," Jacob said. "I'll watch Renee, visit her every evening, three times a day on weekends. I can take Billy there pretty much every day for the whole day, they can keep each other company during the day, I know he gets bored when I'm at work. I'll come to clean your house every few weeks, mow your lawn that kind of thing, and don't worry about the loan repayments, I'll take care of it every month writing out cheques from the joint account."_

"_Thanks Jake," I said, touched. I got up and hugged him tightly, tears of gratitude in my eyes. He hugged me back just as tightly. _

"_I'll always be here for you Bells," he said. _

"_I know," I smiled. _

_That evening, we booked a flight from Seattle-Tacoma to John F. Kennedy International Airport for three days time. _

_The next morning, me and Jacob went to the back and opened up a joint account, and then I went to the hospital to tell Renee about my plans. _

_I didn't tell her the exact reason for my going however. _

"_But why baby?" she asked._

"_I just want to travel a bit, and I figured New York would be a good place to start. Jake said that I need time away, and since you were recovering so well, I thought now would be a good time. I am going to go and work there for a few months, I got a great job offer with a publishing company, I'm going to be an editor!"_

"_An editor! Wow!" Renee looked impressed. _

"_Yeah, apparently someone recommended me," I lied._

"_You were recommended all the way in New York? That's amazing honey, of course you have to go! Don't worry about me, we both know that I'm strong. Plus, it's only for a few months, I'll see you again in no time! In the meantime, we can talk on Skype and Facebook and stuff," Renee babbled excitedly._

"_Of course Mom," I said, smiling, thankful that she was happy._

"_Besides, it makes up for all of the times that I left to go places on holiday when you were younger. All those times when you were in high school, and I jetted off on two week holidays to go and see things I had always wanted to see. This is just like that!" Renee seemed happy. "I've always been worried about how mature you are and the way you were practically born an adult. You grew up too fast. Go out, have fun, enjoy yourself! Life's too short to wait," Renee said. "I wish that I could go with you," she said wistfully._

"_Well, when you are completely better and recovered, I'll take you everywhere you always wanted to go and never got the chance," I promised. "So start making a list!"_

_Over the next few days, I spent as much time as I could with Renee, sitting at her bedside while she excitedly chattered on about my 'New York adventure'. _

_All too soon, the day came that I had to leave. I had already packed all of my clothes into a suitcase, along with my laptop, phone, camera and other valuable items. I didn't pack and toiletries, figuring that these were generally quite cheap and that I could easily buy them from New York. _

_Jake had offered to drive me to airport. We stopped off at his house on the way so that I could say goodbye to Billy. _

_The flight was six hours long, and so I spent the six longs hours thinking of the best places to hunt for jobs. Even if I did get the job with the publishing company, I wouldn't be earning enough. _

_I had bought a pile of magazines from the huge stand at the airport, all to do with job hunting, job choices and money. I was flicking through one, when I found a list of the ten highest earning jobs in America. For nearly all of them, you needed some form of degree, and I'd been supposed to start college in October, to study English Literature, being unsure of what else to do. _

_Most of the list consisted of jobs in the medical profession. I scanned down the lists, which was arranged from the tenth highest paying job, down to the highest._

_10. Psychiatrists_

_9. Chief Executives_

_8. Family and General Practitioners_

_7. Optometrists_

_6. Dentists_

_5. Lawyers_

_4. The sex trade (e.g. Prostitutes and Strippers)_

_3. Anaesthetists_

_2. Architects_

_1. Surgeons_

_The only one of those that it would be possible for me to do would be number four, work in the sex industry and idea which I dismissed immediately. _

_Later on however, I found my mind wandering back to the list and the sex industry. _

"_It isn't as though I've never had sex," I thought to myself. "I'm not a virgin, I know the basics, I know how to please a man. It pays a lot, and I desperately need the money. Plus, I don't even have to be a prostitute; I could just be a stripper in a strip club. My body's not bad; I go to the gym, my figure's okay. It's just dancing in your underwear in front of a load of drunk men you're never going to see again, and who won't remember you in the morning once their hangover kicks in. And there are strip clubs where the men aren't allowed to touch the dancers, I could join one of those."_

_I was surprised at how easily and calmly I was thinking this through in my head; I suddenly realised that I was thinking as though I had already accepted this as my new job. _

_I berated myself at once for even considering such a shameless profession for myself, even for a moment, and forced the thoughts from my mind. _

_Soon after, the plane touched down in sunny New York. It was a hot day, and I quickly followed the crowd through security and passport control. I collected my luggage and made my way outside. _

_I quickly rang Angela._

"_Hey Ang, it's me," I said. _

"_Hey Bella!" she said, sounding happy. _

"_I just wanted to ask your full address so that I can get a cab directly there," I said._

"_Why do you want to do that, you idiot?" she asked. "I'm standing right outside."_

"_Why?" I asked stupidly. _

"_To get you of course! My best friend comes and you really think that I'm going to let her get a cab home? I took the day off work to come and get you," she said._

"_Thanks Angela," I said._

"_Anytime. Now hurry up and get your butt out here so that I can meet you properly!"_

_I grabbed my luggage and followed the crowd, until I caught sight of the doors leading into the car park. I walked out and stood for a moment, letting my eyes adjust to the harsh sunlight that was blinding them. A moment later, I heard someone call my name, and when I turned around, I saw Angela standing waiting for me, waving her hands. _

_I smiled and moved towards the tall, thin girl. _

_Angela was at least 5'8" and stick thin, making her look like a model. She had dark brown, almost black, hair, which reached a few inches past her shoulders and was impeccably thin. She had large sunglasses perched on her head, and was dressed simply in short jean shorts, showing off her tanned legs, and a green tank top, with a large tan bag hanging off her arm. _

_Loads of the passer by's stopped to look at the tall, gorgeous model._

_She caught me in a huge hug as soon as we reached each other, before grabbing some of my bags and leading me towards her car, a lime green beetle. _

_On the way to her apartment, we chatted about anything and everything that had happened since she moved away from Forks two years ago, when her father got a job transfer. _

_After about forty minutes, we reached Angela's apartment in the Village, Manhattan. _

"_Just like in Friends," I joked. _

"_Yep," she laughed. "It's funny you should say that..." she said, as she let us into the apartment. _

"_Wow," I said, as Angela laughed. The layout of her entire apartment was exactly like the layout of Monica's apartment in Friends. "Oh my god," I said. "You've even got your furniture in the same places she has!"_

"_That was by accident," she said. "It didn't look good anywhere else."_

_She pointed at a door directly opposite the front door. "That's you room," she said. _

"_I get Rachel's room," I said happily."Thanks so much for everything Angela."_

"_Hey, not at all. Besides, it gets lonely on my own; it'll be fun to have you around!"_

_I dragged my bags into my new room. I smiled; the room even had the same layout as Rachel's room. _

_The room was almost a perfect square, with the only flaw in its perfection being the position of the door, which was not part of the square, causing about a metres walkway into the main square part of the room. Because of this, part of the room was hidden from view until you entered completely. _

_Against the wall on the left was a double bed, which was facing the opposite wall, where a bureau had been placed parallel to the bed. There was a large mirror placed on top, so that it could double as a dressing table. _

_On the wall straight in front of me was a large window, with light, floor length lilac drapes across it. The room had a lilac theme, with silky lilac bedding, matching lamps with lilac shades and lilac candles placed in several places in the room. I walked further into the room, and found that there was a purple striped armchair and floor lamp in the region that you couldn't initially see, due to the shape of room, as well as doors to a built in wardrobe. _

_I dumped down my bags and leapt onto the bed and just lay there in the softness until I fell asleep, not having the energy to do anything else._

_The next week consisted of continuous job interviews, none of them successful. I was too young, too inexperienced to get a decent job that paid well._

_One morning, I sat down to read the newspaper, in particular the job's section. Angela had already left for work and I was sitting at the kitchen table with a mug of coffee._

_I was reading through the lists, when I came across an ad for a female stripper needed at a local club, for $1800 a week, plus tips, five nights a week. _

_My mind flashed back to that day on the plane, how at first the idea had seemed so repulsive, however I was fast running out of options and time. _

_I quickly did the maths in my head._

_Over twenty weeks, five months, I would have earned $36000._

_It still wasn't enough, but it was a start. This was looking to be the highest paying job that I would find, which is why I showered and dressed smartly, before making my way to the address stated on the ad. _

_The outside of the club looked clean and swanky, and as I walked it, I realised that it wasn't the stereotypical, dark, smoky, dirty strip club, but a bright, clean one. The bar was on my left, and went the whole length of the room. In one corner, was a DJ stand, and there were small round tables placed around the rest of the space, spaced out to allow lots of space. At the front, was a stage, with just three poles all in a line. _

_It seemed like a fairly up-market joint. _

"_Can I help you?" A man at the bar asked._

"_Yeah, I have a meeting with the manager," I said._

"_Follow me," he replied, leading me towards the stage and through several doors, until we reached a door with the name 'Tanya Denali' written on it. _

_I knocked on the door, as the man left._

"_Come in," a loud, powerful voice called. _

* * *

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	16. Chapter 16

**Here it is!**

**Thank you as always to all my readers, reviewers, people who add me to alerts/favourites etc. **

**A big surprise in this chapter, review and let me know if you expected it/liked it please!**

******Disclaimer: Stephanie Meyer owns the characters, this plot is mine though!**

******Enjoy!**

* * *

**EPOV**

"Are you sure that's what she said?" I asked for the millionth time.

"Yes Eddie," Emmett said, exasperated. "How many times do I have to tell you? She wants time to think this through, which to be honest, I think is totally reasonable."

"Of course you fucking do," I said bitterly. "You think that anyone who gives you food is amazing."

"Took you long enough to figure _that _one out," Emmett grinned. "Why did you think I didn't like you?"

"Maybe because I don't like you?" I suggested sarcastically.

"Ouch," Emmett said. "Anyway, we can't do anything without her permission, so there's that plan well and truly crapped on for the moment."

"No it isn't," I answered. "We are going to talk to Rosalie anyway," I said firmly. The game that was playing silently on my TV had been long forgotten.

"What? Dude, are you fucking insane?" Emmett demanded. "You can't do something like that behind her back; it's her whole life at stake."

"Emmett, it's been a whole five weeks today-"

"-not that you've been counting," Emmett muttered.

I carried on. "-since she said she would think about it, and it doesn't look like she has.

I'm not going to do anything major, just talk to Rosalie, show her what James said and then see what she says."

"No Edward, you can't do that. I have never stopped you from doing anything, but here I am going to have to put my foot down," Emmett said. "Bella is my friend and I refuse to let you go ahead with anything like this."

I stared at him for a moment. "Who the fuck do you think you are dude, _my father_?" I asked in disbelief. "Besides, I am going to do this anyway; it's irrelevant what you think. I am doing what I think is best for my friend."

"You know what Edward? Go ahead then, do whatever you want as always, but I am not going to be a part of this at all, so don't come crying to me when this all backfires," Emmett said.

"Emmett, this is real life," I said slowly. "Not a bad soap opera. And anyway, you know I need you to be there with me when I talk to her."

"Why?"

"She's really hot," I replied. "I swear, you two are made for each other," I said, trying to get him to come with me.

He contemplated for a moment. "Okay, but I am doing this for Bella, I need to make sure that you are actually helping her, not just flirting with the hot girl."

I grinned. Emmett was just too easy to persuade.

I rang Alice to ask her for Rosalie's number, deciding to do it before I forgot.

"What is it Edward?" Alice said, sounding irritated.

She must've seen it was me from the caller ID. "Good evening to you too," I said dryly. "Can you text me Rosalie's number please?"

"Okay," Alice said, "I'll do it now, got to go."

"Why? What's going on?" I asked.

"Nothing I just have to go," Alice said.

"Alice, you're really worrying me," I said. "What's going on?"

"You don't want to know."

"Then why am I asking?" I said, growing increasingly concerned. "Unless you tell me, I'm coming over."

"For your information Mr. Nosy, I _was_ in the middle of a make out session with my boyfriend," Alice shot out, sounding thoroughly pissed. "Then, some fucking jackass decides to ring me up, letting the phone ring for ages and ages, and worry me as to what could have happened to make someone let the phone ring for so long." She said this all very quickly.

"Okay, too much information," I said.

"Anyway, why do you want Rosalie's number?" Alice asked, sounding suspicious.

"Umm..." I had forgotten that she didn't know the whole plan. "I have a legal question. Gotta go, bye!" I slammed the phone down, and turned to face Emmett.

"I should warn you, Rosalie is a very busy person, she isn't going to appreciate having to see us on such short notice. She may get annoyed having to squeeze us in so quickly, but she will after a lot of whinging, her and Alice are very good friends. And I forgot to mention, she can be a total bitch sometimes," I told Emmett.

Emmett laughed, thinking that I was joking, opening another beer and taking a long drink.

"I'm being serious, apparently once, some guy took her out to see a movie. On the drive home, he pulled over on the side of the road to break up with her. She got pissed, got out of the car, and he tried to follow her. She slammed the door shut so quickly, somehow, his balls also got slammed in the process and he couldn't walk properly for two weeks," I recounted, exactly how Alice had told me.

Emmett looked worried. "Man, she sounds like a real piece of work. Tread carefully with the phone call; you don't want to piss her off."

"I don't plan to. Which is why you're going to do it for me," I said.

Emmett had unfortunately chosen this moment to take another swig of his beer, which despite being a liquid, seemed to lodge itself in his throat and make him choke for the next four and a half minutes.

"What? No!" Emmett managed to choke out between coughs. "I didn't even want to be a part of this," he said.

"Listen Emmett, how much can she do over the phone?" I reasoned.

"Then why don't you do it?" he demanded.

"Because I am shit scared of the woman," I said conversationally. "Besides, she can't be annoyed at _me_. I'm the one who needs her help, if she gets pissed with you on the phone, all that happens is that you don't come to the meeting tomorrow. And I'll pay for all of your coffees for the next month."

"Fine," Emmett grumbled, holding out his palm for the phone. "Jeez, if you can't even talk to the woman on the phone how are you going to _face_ the woman?"

I opened up the text that I had just received from Alice, and dialled the number she had sent me, before handing the phone to Emmett.

"Put it one loud speaker," I said, smirking. "I want to see how this goes."

Emmett put the phone on loudspeaker, and put it down on the table in front of us.

"Rosalie Hale," a woman said, answering the phone.

Emmett cleared his throat. "Hi, my name is Emmett McCarthy, I am calling up on behalf of my friend, Edward Cullen."

"Alice Cullen's sister?" she asked.

"Yep," Emmett said. "Edward has got a very important matter to discuss with you, he needs an urgent meeting with you."

"Yeah, well he can join the club sweet cheeks," Rosalie said, sounding bored.

"You think I'm sweet? Thanks sexy," Emmett grinned, completely getting the wrong end of the stick.

"Don't call me sexy," she said, sounding menacing. "And I do not think that you're cute, it's an _expression_."

"Sure thing honey," Emmett said innocently.

"Piss off you creep," Rosalie said.

"Is someone annoying you?" Emmett asked. "Who are you trying to get rid of?"

Rosalie exhaled loudly. "_You, _moron. Get off my phone!"

"No, you hang up," Emmett said, in a whiny voice. "By the way, if I could rearrange the alphabet, I'd put U and I together."

I cringed at the corniness. How the hell did this guy manage to get the girls?

"Really? That's the sweetest thing anyone's ever said to me," Rosalie said, all traces of her iciness gone.

"Really?" Emmett said, sounding confused. He'd probably said it to annoy her, not expecting it to backfire. "_Shit," _he mouthed to me, as I stifled a laugh.

"Yes," Rosalie breathed. "If I could rearrange the alphabet, you know what I'd do?" she whispered seductively.

Emmett gulped. "N-no," he said, his voice shaking as I rolled my eyes at him.

"I'd put F and U together," she said viciously.

"Will you?" Emmett asked, a glint in his eye. This was never good.

"What?" Rosalie asked, sounding confused.

"F me? F meaning 'fuck' of course," Emmett asked, as if this was the most normal question to ask a stranger.

"Of course I would. If I wanted some form of disease," Rosalie answered.

"Wow, you sure are a charmer," Emmett said. "Did it hurt when they sent you down from heaven?"

"Did it hurt when they chucked you back up from hell?" Rosalie shot back.

"Whoa lady, what is your problem? Someone light your tampon fuse?" Emmett asked.

"You know, I am trying my hardest to see things from your point of view, but I can't quite get my head _that _far up my ass," Rosalie said coldly.

"You tried to get your head up your ass? How dumb are you?" Emmett said. "Let me guess, blonde?"

"Are you? To be honest, you struck me as the fifty year old, bald, perverted virgin, but I've never seen you, so I'll take your word for it."

"Wow, you are cruel," Emmett said.

"For the record, not all blondes are dumb," Rosalie said.

"Yeah, right," Emmett snorted. "You know the similarity between Santa Claus and a smart blonde? Neither of them exist."

"Have you got anything useful to say or not? I haven't got time for this shit," Rosalie said.

"I already told you, _blondie_, my friend Edward needs an appointment to talk to you. It's important, he needs to see you as soon as possible," Emmett said.

"Let me just check my diary," she said. "How soon are we talking?"

"Tomorrow?" Emmett asked.

"Tomorrow?" she shrieked. "I'm a busy woman, I can't just fit your friend in whenever you want, you ass wipe, do you know how busy I am?"

"Nope, and I don't care. You have to fit Edward in tomorrow, it's a matter of life or death," he said.

Rosalie huffed. "I'll see, but the earliest I can see anybody is the end of next week, I'm fully booked."

"I think you know his sister? Alice Cullen? Aren't you guys best friends?" Emmett asked. "Surely you can do this one little thing for her brother?"

"Is Edward there?" she asked.

"Yep," Emmett said.

"Can I speak to him?"

"Hey Rose," I called.

"Hey Edward! How are you?" she said pleasantly.

"I'm good, how are you?"

"Not as well as I was before I spoke to that ass, but still not bad," she said. "What's wrong?"

"I need to see you urgently, is there _any _way you can fit me in for an hour?" I said.

"Well..." she said. "I can see you in my lunch hour, you don't mind if I eat my lunch as well do you? Normally I don't with clients, but seeing as we know each other so well-"

"Of course," I said, cutting her off. "I'll bring you some lunch," I offered. "It's the least I can do to thank you for seeing me. How do you feel about a Chinese?"

"I'm looking forward to it," she said, sounding genuinely happy. "You remember when my lunch hour is right?"

"One p.m," I said. "See you then," I said, hanging up.

I turned around and found Emmett staring at me. "You _know _her?" he said.

"Yep."

"But you made me do it?"

"Yeah, I wanted to see how Rosalie would respond to you, it's always hilarious to see how she talks to people she doesn't know."

"So you let me get insulted for nothing?" he accused.

"From what I could hear, you managed just fine on your own, and plus, it wasn't for nothing. I found it highly amusing."

Soon after, Emmett left. As he was leaving, he said "Dude, you need to clean this shit hole."

After he left, I looked around the living room, at all of the beer bottles littering the floor and the pile of post and magazines strewn across the couches and table, not to mention countless food containers covering the floor.

I had been busy this week, and my household chores had been neglected.

I sighed and decided to at least pick up the trash off the floor before going to bed.

I worked my way around the room, picking up any form of trash off the floor and putting it in the trash chute at the end of the hall, opposite my apartment.

The room already looked much cleaner than before, until I saw the stack of mail, magazines and newspapers on my coffee table. I decided to work my way through them as well before bed, not feeling particularly tired yet.

I sorted the things out into three piles, mail, newspapers and magazines, and sorted everything out into the relevant piles.

I took the newspapers and magazines out to the recycling chute, before sitting down to work my way through the pile of mail.

About half way down the pile, I found a white envelope with my name scrawled on it. I thought back, trying to remember what it was.

I opened up the letter, remembering as I did, that it was from Lauren, from the day that she had come to visit.

I smoothed out the paper and began to read.

_Edward,_

"That's my name," I said aloud.

_I don't know how to tell you this, so I am going to start at the beginning. _

"Well where were you planning on starting? The end? Stupid bitch."

_First of all, I want you to know that I never stopped loving you. I still love you Edward. Since that day we broke up three months ago, the only question on my mind has been 'Could we have made it work?' We could have made it work; together we could have done it. _

"Yeah right, if you hadn't been screwing other people as well behind my back, maybe."

_I am truly sorry for all the times I hurt you, however, I don't think that the blame lies entirely with me. I think that you should own up to your part in our break up. Yes, I admit, I did sleep with someone else, but it wasn't a huge deal, we could have worked through it. You weren't without blame, you were always working, always neglecting me, what did you want me to do? Fuck myself? You know how out dated that it Edward, and you know how I feel about that._

"Blah blah fucking blah, yes Lauren, I think everyone knows how you feel about anything out dated, including long term, boyfriends."

_Anyway, I'm not writing to you to lay the blame on anybody. I am just writing to tell you something I have found out recently. _

"Get on with it, I want to go to sleep."

_Edward, I am three months pregnant with your child. _

"WAIT WHAT?" I shouted, jumping up.

_I am certain that it is yours; with anybody else I have slept with, we always used several contraception methods at once to ensure that there was no chance of pregnancy. You are the only guy I have ever slept with, without any form of protection. _

_I would love for you to be in our child's life, but I understand if you don't, I will just get my lawyer to contact you, and don't think that I wouldn't Edward. You helped create this child, now you face the consequences of your actions._

_I will be waiting for your call on my cell; I have written the number at the bottom of the page._

_Lauren_

Shit.

I thought back in my head. At the time she dropped off the letter, she was three months pregnant, and that was about two months ago, so now she would be coming up to five months pregnant. And, it was quite possible that the child was mine, seeing as we had only broken up about three months before she came over, and we'd had sex the morning we broke up, seeing as the afternoon afterwards I found her fucking some guy on the kitchen table. Needless to say, both the girlfriend and the table were disposed of very soon after.

I didn't know what to do. Without a doubt, I had to be involved in my child's life; after all, it was my child, I couldn't expect Lauren to do everything.

But at the same time, I had no idea how to tell Bella or my family.

I tried to forget about it, getting myself another beer from the kitchen and draining it quickly, before getting another one and drinking it all. I felt calmer and able to think this through more easily now that I was feeling more relaxed.

There was a knock at the door.

I left the letter on the couch and got up to answer.

I opened the door, and came face to face with Bella.

"Hi," I said, surprised.

"Hi," she replied. "I asked Emmett for your address, I hope that's okay?"

"Of course," I said, motioning for her to come in.

We sat down.

She fidgeted with the hem of her cardigan. "Edward...I..." she broke off, trying to find the right words.

"Take your time," I said. "Do you want anything to drink? I've got tea, coffee, coke, water, milk, beer, wine, virtually anything."

"A coffee sounds great actually," she admitted.

"Okay, one coffee coming up. It's not as good as yours, but it'll have to do," I said as I walked off into the kitchen.

As I was pouring the water into the mug, Bella called me.

"Edward," she said quietly. "Can you come in here a moment?"

"Sure," I said, wiping my hands on a tea towel and going into the living room. She was sat where I had left her, her head bent over something.

"What's wrong love?" I said easily.

"You tell me," she snapped, standing up and turning around. "What's this?" she waved something at me.

_Double shit. Lauren's letter._

"You got some girl pregnant, and didn't think to tell me, and then had the cheek to sell me some cock and bull story about how 'Bella, I really like you'? How many other girls have you fed that line Edward, before knocking them up? When did you find out? That day, a few months ago, when she came onto you? Is that the day she told you? And you couldn't even trust me enough to tell me!"

"Bella, I only just-"

"Save it Edward," she said angrily. "I'm not annoyed about the fact that you got someone pregnant, this girl is a few months pregnant anyway. It's the fact that you didn't trust me enough to tell me, after giving me that whole fucking lecture about how _I _don't trust you enough to tell you important stuff. You had the audacity to ask _me _if I saw us," she stopped to motion between us, "as a game. Well Edward, I think the better question is, do you? I have given up so much in my life to look after other people. I've put my own life on hold to help other people, and been through hell and back in the process. I have never been in love, or in a serious relationship, I never met anyone who I could see myself with. Then I found someone so amazing, understanding, someone who I could be myself around, someone I could trust, and turns out it is all one sided." She began to sob. "Edward, tell me once and for all if you have any feelings for me, because I don't want my heart broken, I've had enough pain to last me a lifetime, I can't cope with anymore. I can take James's beatings, I can handle his strange sexual needs, his demands, but I can't handle having my heart broken. Not by you."

I was speechless as I watched her break down into tears, feeling like a total asshole.

I walked towards her slowly, and wrapped my arms around her tightly, holding her sobbing form against me.

She cried into my shoulder. I pulled away slightly and wiped her tears away.

All of a sudden, she pulled away from me completely, as if realising what she was doing and who was comforting her, and moved towards the door.

"Bella," I pleaded.

"I need to go," she said, tears still streaming down her face. "I think that it's best if I stay married to James, until the contract runs out. It'll give me something to focus on over the next few months, while I pull myself back together. Goodbye, Edward Cullen," she said, as I watched the woman I loved walk out on me.

* * *

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	17. Chapter 17

**Here you go folks!**

**Thank you as always to all my readers, reviewers, people who add me to alerts/favourites etc. **

**Another blast from the past from Bella- Warning: Lots of sexual content.**

**Please review and let me know what you think- let's try and reach 50 reviews with this chapter? Remember, reviewers get previews!**

**Stephanie Meyer owns the characters, this plot is mine though!**

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BPOV

I drove home in a daze. Every sign that I saw, every number plate, every street name, was shouting the same words at me: _I am three months pregnant with your child, I am three months pregnant with your child, I am three months pregnant with your child..._

The words were everywhere, mocking me, tormenting me.

I felt angry, alone and weak, all combined in one, a terrible combination.

But above all, I was confused.

I had no idea why I had reacted as I had. After all, it's not as though he got Lauren pregnant at the same time that he had slept with me, it was months before that. And it was an easy mistake to make. And it wasn't as though we were anything that serious yet, we had only slept together once, and even that was weeks ago, and we hadn't come close to a second time.

What bothered me was the fact that he hadn't even trusted me enough to trust me.

I pulled up onto the driveway and went inside quickly, dialling a very familiar number, despite it being late on a Friday night.

"Hello?" Carlisle answered.

"Carlisle, it's me, Bella," I said.

"How are you, is everything okay?" Carlisle sounded concerned.

"No," I said.

"Okay, well I'm afraid I can't help you," Carlisle said. "Remember our condition? I can't help you, until you help yourself and finish that diary."

"What? No Carlisle, I need your help now!" I said, exasperated.

"I'm sorry Bella, but I can't help you," Carlisle said.

I screamed out in annoyance, before slamming the phone down.

James wasn't home, so I decided to work on the diary a bit, wanting to get it finished so I could talk to Carlisle sooner.

_AUGUST 2006_

_I entered the large room, walking towards a large, dark desk, behind which a powerful looking woman was sitting, her feet propped up on the desk encased in black stilettos. She was slouched down in her leather chair, so that just her head and neck was visible. She had thick, shoulder length strawberry blonde hair, framing her round face. She had small eyes, and huge pouty lips, painted a deep red._

"_I'm Bella Swan, we spoke on the phone?" I said, hoping that I didn't sound as nervous as I felt. _

"_Have a seat," she said, in a high pitched girly voice, that didn't seem to match with her appearance. "I'm Tanya. Tanya Denali."_

"_I wanted to see you about the advert?" I said. "The stripper?"_

_Tanya regarded me closely. _

"_You look like a well-bred, respectable young girl. Why would someone like you want to be a stripper?"_

"_My mother is severely ill, and I need to money fast," I said honestly. "It's much more than I can afford, and I need it within six months."_

"_How much money are we talking?" Tanya looked genuinely interested. _

"_Around $110,000."_

"_This job isn't going to get you nearly enough," Tanya stated. _

"_I know, but I could get several other jobs at the same time, and get the money that way," I said. _

_Tanya looked thoughtful. "Okay. If you were willing to work as a whore as well, you could earn a lot more."_

"_I'm sorry, I don't want to do that, I don't feel comfortable," I said apologetically. _

"_You could earn in the region of $2,000 a client in this establishment," she went on. "We are a very elite establishment, we have very influential clients. You would make your money much quicker. $2,000 is around our minimum price, with some clients, you could get up to $5,000."_

_It was a difficult choice: the choice between earning back the money, or my morals. _

"_Will I just be working with males?" I asked._

"_Yep," Tanya said. "Why don't you come back tomorrow, same time, and I'll give you a trial. You can stay for three days and over that time, I can assess your potential for both jobs, and you can make up your mind?" Tanya said. _

"_Okay," I said hesitantly. _

"_Bring some sexy clothes with you, lingerie and the like," she commanded. _

_Twenty four hours later, I was sat in the same position, a small bag by my side. Tanya was walking around the chair, as if circling her prey, dressed as a slut. She was wearing a white blouse, its buttons undone so that her lacy bra was visible, peeking out from the top of the blouse. She was wearing a tiny pencil skirt with pantyhose and red heels. _

_Tanya had rang me the night before, telling me what to bring with me and to dress up, and I could see her looking me up and down now, to assess how I had gotten ready._

"_Your figure is great, and you're quite pretty, I would say that you could earn a lot with the right client." She sat back down. _

"_Fortunately, I know someone, a very influential man, who is looking for someone. He works in a local hospital as one of the management staff, a very powerful job. He needs someone to act as his wife for him at all of his high society functions. He is only in his mid twenties; however everyone else in his department is married. He wants someone to accompany him and act as his wife, as well as be his whore. He is willing to pay whatever it takes for the perfect wife, and I think you might be perfect for him. He will pay off all of the medical bills, you will be living with him rent free, and he will pay for anything that you should want. You would be married to him, but only until all of your money is paid and the contract ends. He has one condition however; the person who becomes his wife will have to remain married to him for three years."_

_I thought the offer through; it would probably be the easiest and fastest way to make the money, and at least the sex would only be with one person I thought, as I tried to think of the positives. I forced the negatives from my mind. _

_I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. "Okay," I said. "But I want the guy to be tested for any STD's."_

"_Of course," Tanya said. "I just need you to sign this contract, stating that you have agreed to marry this man for three years, and if in that time you try to run away or take any form of legal action, you will be exposed, as well as tracked down and dealt with." I shuddered. "It also says what is expected of you, including the training that you will receive beforehand."_

_She handed me a few sheets of paper and I read through them quickly, signing my name at the bottom. _

"_Can I have a copy of those?" I said. _

"_Of course," Tanya said, walking towards the photocopier and copying a few copies of it, handing one to me and putting the others on her desk. "One will be put in your personal employee file and one will be given to James, the guy you just agreed to marry," she explained. _

"_Before the marriage, you will stay here for two weeks so that we can get you ready; do all the necessary health checks, that kind of thing. Also, in that time, we are going to get you to work with a few clients, just to help bring you out of your shell and get you used to this kind of thing. The clients will pay you as well," Tanya said, as if she had it memorised. She was sitting behind the huge shiny desk with her feet propped up on the top of I again, her killer red heels and pantyhose making her legs look a mile long under her micro mini skirt. I could see her lacy thong under it; it was _that_ 'micro'._

_She took her legs down, one by one, and leaned back in her huge leather chair. _

_She looked me up and down, and I suddenly felt very self conscious. She stood up, and walked around the desk to where I was standing. _

_I had tried to get ready nicely that day. I was wearing fitted dark wash skinny jeans that ended at mid calf, and a casual off shoulder red peasant blouse, with ballet pumps and a large handbag. I had just left my hair as normal, and wore no makeup. I had thought that I looked nice; I mostly just wore sweats at home. Dressing up, even as casual as this, was a big deal for me. _

_Tanya was standing right next to me, and kept looking me over. _

"_You look nice," she said, and I felt my whole body relax, relieved that she approved. "If you are going out shopping or to lunch," she finished, and I felt myself tense again._

"_We need to glam you up a bit. After all, my clients don't want a plain Jane, they have their wives for that," she cackled._

_She took a step back, and looked at me critically. _

"_Great legs... men like leggy girls. Your face is...satisfactory. Could use a bit of makeup, to make you look sexy and alluring. Nice waist, hips..." she paused and walked over to me. She stood directly in front of me and put her hands under my breasts, so that one was in each hand, and pushed them up and down. I gasped at the contact, feeling degraded and ashamed. She laughed at me._

"_You need to get used to this, you are going to be dealing with all sorts of clients. Make a fuss or decline a client what they want, and you are straight out of here. Understand?" she said sharply. _

_I hesitated for a second, and nodded slowly. I needed this money for Renee, and if this was the only way, then I was going to do it._

_She continued to move my breasts, squeezing and pushing them slightly, and occasionally pinching the nipples through the fabric. I held my breath, waiting for her to finish, hoping that it would be soon. _

"_Fantastic boobs...he will love these," Tanya purred. _

_She suddenly moved one hand onto my ass and pinched and slapped it. I yelped out in surprise, and she gave me a steely look. "What did I say?" her tone was cold and sharp._

"_Sorry," I mumbled, my face red._

_Tanya moved her hands all over my body, occasionally pinching here and there. _

_She stopped and stepped back. _

"_Good, your body is in good shape. First test is now. I will give you a scenario, and you act it out, and I will see if you did it like a true whore. Let's pretend that I have just had a call from a client, who wants to pay us a visit. You have to be ready and waiting by the time he gets here, ready to seduce him. Fifteen minutes." She waved at me with three fingers, and left, slamming the door behind her, her shoes tapping away down the hall. _

_I sighed, tears forming at my eyes. I brushed them away angrily, and began to think. I turned around to my bag behind me, and started rifling through the things I had bought, looking for something suitable. Tanya had told me on the phone that I would not need many proper clothes, just sexy things to wear. Now I knew why._

_I pulled out a scanty lace bra and matching thong. They were so lacy, that you could see pretty much straight through them. I stripped off quickly and put them on, followed by some knee length stockings help up by a black garter. I finally put on some red heels, not unlike Tanya's, and shook my head, giving my hair a wild, windswept look. _

_I moved my stuff out of the way, so that it was hidden to declutter the room, and looked at myself in the floor length mirror on the back of the door._

_I puffed up my hair a bit more with my hands, and rushed back to my bag, suddenly remembering something. I pulled out a bottle, and starting drinking from it, just enough to help me feel relaxed and confident and buzzed. I swallowed a breath mint quickly, to mask the scent of the alcohol, and covered myself in perfume._

_I looked around the room, trying to think of a seductive pose, aware that I only had a few minutes left. _

_I suddenly remembered the desk and moved the laptop off of it, before lying down on, over the paperwork, hoping that Tanya wouldn't mind. I lay on my side, facing the door, propped up on one elbow. I put the heel of one of my feet flat on the table, and looped the other leg over the edge of the table towards the door, giving a clear view of my spread out and 'waiting' vagina._

_I pushed my chest out, and had a sudden idea, quickly sitting up and redoing my bra, from the loosest to the tightest hook. It felt uncomfortable, but my boobs were pushed together, and higher, looking bigger and more inviting, as well as heaving from the uncomfortableness. The client wouldn't know that though, they would think it was out of lust. And the happier the client was, the more they would pay me. _

_I reassumed my ridiculously cliché pose, trying to make my body look as inviting as possible. I could feel all of the paperwork under me, crinkling every time I moved. _

_I waited a few minutes. I had gotten ready quicker than I thought. _

_I tried to listen, carefully, for any signs of Tanya's shoes, and sure enough I could hear them tapping on the marble floor a few moments later. _

_She threw the doors open dramatically and scanned the room, almost eagerly. _

_When she caught sight of me, her breath seemed to catch in her throat for a second, and her eyes darkened a shade. She licked her lips, and walked over to me, slowly, murmuring "Now remember Isabella, a good whore will do anything to please her client." _

_Despite the alcohol, I suddenly felt nervous, wondering what she was going to do to me. _

_She started running her hands up and down my legs lightly. "Good Isabella, good girl...remember, you don't ever want to upset the client. You just sit and take it, and do what your client wants and get paid," she murmured softly. Her hands started moving higher up with every sweep, up along my legs and up my side._

_I stayed still, in exactly the same pose that I had been in, my chest heaving more than ever. With every sweep, her hands were getting higher. Every now and then she would whisper praises to me._

_With one more sweep, her hands had reached my breasts, and she stopped moving her hands along the length of my body and concentrated on my breasts. _

_She stroked the undersides of them with her index finger, circling them, and then took them in her whole hand, and began kneading and palming them. She began pinching them, and tugging at my nipples painfully, but I stayed silent, knowing that if I made a sound then I wouldn't be given the job. _

_She swooped down unexpectedly, and started kissing the exposed tops of my breasts, heaving at the tightness of the bra and out of nervousness. The bra exaggerated their size, making them appear rounder and fuller, and pushed up closer together, making my cleavage look huge. Tanya stuck her head down my cleavage, and began licking and nipping at the skin there, and I gasped._

_Tanya paused for a moment and looked up at me, her eyebrows raised and her eyes dark. "If you are going to make a noise, at least moan," she said coldly. "In fact, __**do**__ moan, even if it is fake." Then she went back to the savage attack on my breasts, biting and pulling even harder. _

_I bit my lip, trying to stay silent. _

_Suddenly, Tanya let out a huge moan. "Oh my god, you have the most beautiful tits I have ever seen..." she continued to moan, and make noise, and then she swiftly reached around my back and undid my bra, tossing it aside, and letting my breasts free out of their suffocating prison. _

_She leaned back a minute, appearing to admire my breasts, and then took my nipple in her mouth, biting down hard._

_I felt disgusting and low, but kept chanting in my head: "It's for Renee, it's for Renee, it's for Renee..._

_I kept silent, and let Tanya carry on. She began biting harder, and it was really painful by now. _

"_Moan, godammit!" she shrieked, and I suddenly realised why she was biting harder and harder. I let out a few fake moans, hoping that it would satisfy her, and she would stop quicker. It worked, and the pressure on my nipples gradually subsided. _

"_I want you!" she growled at me, and a terror overtook me. No one had said anything about sleeping with other women. I waited to see what she would say next, but she didn't say anything. I inwardly sighed in relief; she hadn't meant it. _

_She began tracing patterns on my bare stomach._

_Then, she hooked her fingers into the strings of my thong, and pulled it downwards._

_I suddenly felt enraged; she had never mentioned anything about this. I put my hand on hers, stopping her and said "I didn't sign up to this."_

"_Actually, you did." Tanya looked smug. _

"_But the contract said-"_

"_-The contract said, in these exact words, 'I shall do whatever it takes to please my client, regardless of who the client is'. It doesn't specify the gender of the client. At the moment, I am your client, and therefore you please me." _

_My heart sank. I knew she was right._

_I desperately tried one more time. "But when we spoke, you told me that I would only be working with men."_

"_Yes, when I spoke to you. But that is not on the contract and you have no proof." Tanya gave me a wide smile._

"_Then I quit!" I shouted, sitting up. Tanya put a hand on my chest and forced me back down._

"_You can't. The contract also said that you are my employee for the next three years, and cannot leave my employment unless I specifically order you too, whilst I am sober. You have to stay. Now shut up, I am not finished."_

_I felt numb. _

_Tanya prised my fingers away, and pulled my thong down, to expose my dry slit. She tutted. "Isabella, you are not at all wet. If you have to, think about something else, or even _someone_ else. Make it look like you are enjoying yourself, moan, groan, writhe, plead, scream, orgasm, or the client will not be happy."_

_She stroked around my slit, and combed through my small bush with her fingers. "This needs to go. First thing tomorrow, go see the resident beautician."_

_I didn't reply. I lay, looking up at the ceiling, numb with humiliation, as she probed my genitals with her hands. She bent down her head, and placed a kiss there. I held back a shudder. She looked at me carefully, surprised how I had not reacted at her kiss, before bending down again and biting my clit. I gasped, and she looked triumphant. _

"_Get dressed, and I will tell you how you did." Her tone was curt, and sharp. _

_My face was crimson as I got off the desk, and walked over to my belongings, wearing nothing but the stockings and shoes. Tanya pointed at a door next to the main door, and motioned for me to go in there and get dressed. I went in, and locked the door behind me, realising that she had sent me into her private bathroom._

_Shamefaced, I forced myself to look at my reflection in the mirror. At the whore I had become. I refused to cry. I dampened some tissues, and quickly wiped my whole body over, in an attempt to rid myself of some of the filth on my body. I got dressed as fast as I could, and re-entered the main office. _

_I was horrified by what I saw, but I knew that if I turned away I would be fired immediately, and everything I had just gone through would be for nothing. Besides, it couldn't get much worse than that. I remember thinking those exact words at the time, not realising how much worse it would become for me in the months to come. _

_Tanya was leaned back in her huge chair, with her legs up on the desk again. But this time, she had her legs spread far apart, and wore nothing but her shoes. Her core was wet, and she was thrusting her finger in and out quickly, watching me enter the room._

"_Now this..." she panted, "is how to properly seduce your client." She was breathless, and the tempo of her hand increased, before stopping all together. _

_Her breathing was laboured, but she hadn't reached her climax. I dreaded what she was going to tell me to do, hoping that I was mistaken. I wasn't. _

"_Come here," she ordered. _

"_I have never done this before," I said, trying to get out of the task. _

"_I will tell you what to do," she purred. "Kneel between my legs."_

_I loathed myself as I, the once independent Bella Swan, obeyed._

"_Now lick. Thrust your tongue in and out of my pussy...Ungghhh...ohhhh..." she groaned. "Speed up...faster...bite down slightly...swirl your tongue...ungghh...just like that...suck my pussy you fucking whore, fuck me with your filthy mouth..."_

_I began to gag on her disgusting flavour, something which seemed to spur her on further. She wrapped her legs around my neck, suffocating me, and pushing me closer to her slit. "Right there...don't stop..." she panted, her hands in my hair, tugging at it. She started pushing me even harder, pushing herself off the seat of her chair, her back arched._

"_UUGNNNHHHH...OHHH...BELLLAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!" she screeched._

_I was disgusted with myself, and full of self loathing and humiliation. _

_Renee..._

_I pulled away from Tanya, and went to sit on the other side of her desk, opposite her. _

_She sat quietly for a few minutes, trying to regain her breath and pulling her clothes back on. Once she was fully dressed, she started talking. _

"_Your way was sexy, and hot, and passionate, and if your client wants slow, fiery sex then that is the way to do it. My way, was for manic, toe curling animal sex. It is up to you to think about which you client would want, and you need to try and get it right. You looked sexy in a classy way. I looked sexy in the whore way. You need to judge your client for what you think they would want. Your pose was fantastic, warm, inviting and smouldering, and you outfit was Viagra; in short, you were sex on legs. I am impressed." She sounded anything but. "Off you go to bed, you need to rest. We will talk tomorrow. Laurent is outside, he will show you where to go." _

_I was exhausted, so I grabbed my bag, and went out the door, to meet a handsome looking man, who I assumed was Laurent. He had coffee coloured skin, and long dreadlocks, with handsome features. He led me wordlessly through the building. _

_We entered a dark, deserted corridor, and he spoke to me for the first time. "You made Tan cum pretty well. Could hear her," he smirked. "Want to do the same for me?" before I even had time to process what he had said, he had brutally pushed me against the wall, and was pulling my jeans and underwear down._

_I pushed against him, beating his shoulders with my fists, screaming for help, but nobody would come. He thrust in and out of me. With each thrust, he pushed me further into the wall, my head and my back smashing into it. Finally, he came, and he zipped himself back up, and grabbed me by my hair, my jeans and underwear still around my knees. He pulled me along the corridor by my hair. I pleaded with him to stop, so that I could at least pull up my jeans, but he just pulled harder. We reached a closed door, and her opened it, pushed me inside, threw my bag in, and then shut the door behind me. I heard a lock click._

_And only then, did I allow myself to cry._

I heard a car pull up on the drive and quickly shut the diary and put it back in my handbag just as James entered the hall.

"Bella," he called.

"In here," I said, my voice shaking from the humiliation that still plagued me to this day.

He walked in, looking slightly drunk. "What are you still doing? It's gone midnight."

I looked at the clock, and was surprised to find that he was right. I had been writing for almost three hours, reliving the horror of my past.

"I just sat down, I guess I lost track of time," I said.

"Okay. I brought pizza, did you want some?" he asked, holding up three pizza boxes.

I raised my eyebrows. "Three?"

He shrugged, looking sheepish. "I apparently can't assess how much food I need when I have had only one beer. Heaven help us when I've had several," he joked.

"Heaven help us indeed," I murmured.

He sat down next to me at the table and we pulled one of the boxes towards us, grabbing a slice each. We ate in companionable silence.

I grabbed another slice of pizza, and another and another, and before long I had polished off a full pizza myself without even realising.

"Wow, you must have been hungry," James commented.

"Yeah," I said confused. "It's weird; lately I've been feeling really hungry and eating loads. Must be stress or something from work."

Soon we went to bed, and another night went by with no demands of sex.

As I was lying awake, trying to drift off, I thought about James. The last few weeks, he had been okay; still not brilliant, but then again, no one's perfect. He hadn't been an ass or a jerk or anything, and I thought back to his offer of giving 'us' another go.

It wasn't as though Edward would want me anymore, not with his new baby on the way, and I was pretty sure that Edward was the type of guy who, if he had a child, would stick with it, no matter what, even if it was unwanted or a surprise.

And plus, after those horrid things that I had said to him, he wouldn't be forgiving me in a hurry.

Maybe James was what I needed to distract myself from thoughts of Edward, and what could have been if I hadn't been so quick to blow up at him.

I swallowed the lump in my throat and tried to get to sleep.

That night in my dreams, I was standing on a bridge, with a gushing river flowing beneath my feet, visible through the old cracks in the broken wooden bridge.

The two guys were dressed smartly in black suits, with classic white shirts and black ties, with expensive black shoes, and I was for reasons unbeknown, wearing an expensive black evening dress, my hair piled on my head in a neat bun and expensive black heels on my feet.

On one side, there was James, and on the other was Edward. Both looked incredibly sexy, and both were calling me to them.

I didn't know who to go to; both looked irresistible, both were pleading with me, both needed me.

I looked at them both, tears streaming down my face, unable to choose.

Suddenly, the bridge began to split in half, and I was thrown into the river as it tossed me from side to side, bringing me perilously close to the sharp rocks.

I could feel the cold water pounding me fiercely, dragging me down with it, trying to claim my dress.

I screamed for help, unable to swim against the strong current, but no one came. The water was entering my mouth, my nose, my ears, choking me.

Still, nobody came.

Eventually, I felt a strong arm lock around my waist, holding me to his chest, and I stared deep into emerald eyes, at once feeling calm and protected and safe.

He swam us to shore, quickly and powerfully slicing through the water, never letting me go once.

We reached the grassy bank, coughing and spluttering, James now a figure in the distance, however his voice booming through the air to me.

"I'm sorry Bella, but the water was so powerful, and this was my brand new suit," James shouted, thinking only of himself.

I was still in his arms, and I turned to face him. I traced his features with my wet fingers.

"Thank you," I whispered.

"Sorry I couldn't reach you sooner my love," he said, sorrow in his eyes.

"What? You saved my life, don't be sorry," I said, puzzled.

"I'd do anything for you Isabella," Edward said.

"My Edward," I said affectionately, running my hands through his hair.

I woke up at that moment, and turned to look at the man asleep next to me, his face illuminated by the moonlight, the coward who despite his promises, had failed to save me.

I suddenly felt a wave of nausea hit me, and I ran to the bathroom, vomiting loudly into the toilet, last night's pizza catching up with me.

I rinsed my mouth out an brushed my teeth, before returning to my warm bed, deciding in that instant what I was going to do the next morning.

I was going to apologise to _my _Edward.

* * *

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	18. Chapter 18

**Here it is, the next chapter!**

**Sorry about the delay again, but I still have things I need to sort through with my life. Plus, I found this chapter quite difficult to write, and so it took me a while. Believe it or not, I have actually been working on this chapter since I posted the last chapter, so it has taken me a long time to do, plus a fair amount of research into various things to make the information as genuine and true as possible. **

**Thank you as always to all of my readers, reviewers and people who are adding me to alerts, favourites etc.**

******Disclaimer: Stephanie Meyer owns the characters, this plot is mine though!**

******Enough talking by me, let's get on with it!**

******Enjoy!**

* * *

EPOV

I stood looking at the door for ages after Bella had left, hoping that this was some kind of joke, expecting that she would turn around and come back.

When I finally realised that she wasn't going to, I dragged my heavy frame over to the couch and collapsed onto it, willing sleep to come, hoping for my brown eyed beauty to come in my dreams.

Sure enough, Bella flitted in and out of my dreams, looking radiant as always, but with disappointment evident in her eyes. Eyes that were disappointed in me.

However when I woke up again, instead of feeling sad, I felt inexplicably angry.

I jumped up from the couch and started pacing around the room, trying to gain some feeling in my legs.

It was pitch black outside. I looked at the clock that read 4am, in ghostly green luminescent figures. I had only been asleep a few hours, yet I felt wide awake.

"_Why did she have to fly off the handle like that?" _I thought. _"She hadn't even given me a chance to explain myself to her. She could have at least asked me how long I had known. I had only found out literally minutes before she did for fuck's sake, when was I supposed to have told her?"_

I grabbed myself a beer from the kitchen and guzzled the whole thing down, throwing the bottle across the room.

"_What the fuck did she think of herself? Bella fucking Denali, with her fucking stick up her fucking ass, the cow was too fucking dense to see what was going on around her. I'm fucking crazy about her, but at the moment it's hard to remember why exactly."_

I tugged at my hair, frustrated and the alcohol affecting my brain.

I decided to still go and see Rosalie later on anyway and talk to her. Even if I couldn't bear to see Bella right now, it didn't mean that the way James was treating her was right. No woman deserved to be treated like that, cow or not, and if there was one thing I had been taught, it was that.

I lay back down on the couch and picked up my cell phone from the coffee table. There were no messages or calls from her.

I decided not to call her either. I was getting tired of her mood swings. If she wanted to talk to me so badly, _she _could call _me _for once, instead of the other way round.

Damnit I was crazy about her, but I couldn't keep doing this, dealing with her unpredictable mood swings. I just couldn't keep facing the brunt of her anger, anger caused by James.

I grabbed another beer and knocked it back, following it with another and another, until I lost count, unable to stop drinking. I drank until I was significantly buzzed, and I was interrupted by a sharp knock at the door.

I looked at the time, confused. Who would be coming to visit at 6am?

I walked over and opened the door, coming face to face with none other than Mrs. Bella Denali.

Fan-fucking-tastic.

"Look who it is," I said unpleasantly. "Mrs. _Denali_."

"Edward," she said, quietly, looking really fucking nervous. Jesus, there was no need to hold onto your handbag that tightly, I wasn't going to take it off you.

She looked tired and even paler than usual. I felt a tiny bit guilty for a fraction of a second, before my anger returned.

"I'm sorry for coming so early, but I couldn't sleep all night, and I had to talk to you straight away. I didn't think that you would mind," she said, looking at her feet as she spoke.

"Of course you didn't," I said. "Why should I mind? After all, you seem to act however you want when it comes to me, expecting me to deal with it, never bothering to think if it affects me, so why should this be any different?"

Her face flushed red.

She finally looked up at me with those tired, lifeless eyes. "Can I come in? I really need to talk to you?"

"Oh really? Well I don't remember you coming back earlier when _I _really needed to talk to you, you just carried on running away in a mood," I said, sounding disinterested.

Bella's face flushed three shades deeper.

"Look, I know I was wrong, that's what I'm here to talk to you about, but I don't feel comfortable talking about this in the hall, so please can I come in?"

I leaned against the door frame, blocking her, my arms folded. "Nope," I said, popping the 'p'.

I knew that I was being a prick, but at the time, I wanted to just cause her as much pain as she had caused me. Well, the alcohol wanted to anyway.

If you've got something to say, you can say it here," I said.

"Edward why are you being like this?" Bella whispered.

"Like what Bella? Like you were last night? Is that what you mean?" Bella didn't say anything. "Or maybe the last time you did this, stormed out on me without hearing me out?"

"Edward-" Bella said calmly, putting a hand on my chest.

I pushed it off angrily. "Don't try that shit on me Bella."

"Just hear me out," Bella pleaded. "I just need ten minutes."

"No Bella," I said, shaking my head. "I don't think so. Last night, I really needed you to hear _me _out, and you left without even a backwards glance. I had only just opened that letter myself. That day that Lauren came round, I told you about that, I found it after she left and put it aside, intending to read it later, but I forgot. I found it again last night just as I was cleaning, and had just finished reading when you came, which is why it was on the couch still. The minute I saw you, I completely forgot about it, I didn't hide it for weeks, or even for one fucking hour, I simply forgot to tell you at that moment. No doubt, I would have remembered about it the minute I sat down on the couch again, and I would have told you about it straight away, but you didn't give me the chance," I said. Bella's mouth had fallen open as I was talking, and she looked pretty embarrassed.

"Shit," she muttered.

"Shit indeed," I agreed, venomously. "You didn't even give me two minutes to explain this last night. You obviously don't trust me, and I can't be with someone who doesn't trust me."

Bella stood motionless, her face falling with every word I spoke.

"So, Mrs. Denali, I think that it is best if you and I cut ties now, and avoid each other, because I sure as hell don't want anything to do with you from now on," I said, formally, taking one final look at her shocked face, before going to close the door, close a chapter of my life.

I pushed the door closed hard, slamming it into the frame, but it for some reason it bounced back, before a loud yelp rang out, and Bella's face came back into view, contorted with pain.

She was bent down, clutching her left foot, muttering profanities under her breath.

"Are you okay?" I asked, more out of politeness than genuine concern.

"Yes," she said, through gritted teeth.

"Good," I said, trying to again close the door.

"I mean no," she said suddenly, standing upright, wincing at the pain it caused her.

She leaned forward slightly, and pushed the door open, before pushing past me and limping into my living room.

"Hey!" I said, annoyed. "You can't just come into people's houses like that!"

"Try me," she said, sitting on the couch and pulling her flimsy ballet shoes off and massaging her foot.

I slammed the door shut and walked towards her, sitting on the couch opposite. "Why the hell did you put your foot in the door anyway? Are you a total moron or something?"

"No," she said. "It's what they always do in movies. I just never realised how painful it is, they always make it look easy on TV."

I snorted. "Bella, I am going to explain something, and I want you to listen carefully," I said, slowly. "TV...is fictional." I spoke as if talking to a three year old.

She inhaled sharply, slapping a hand over her mouth dramatically. "Really? I had no idea!" she said sarcastically. "Your fucking dick is going to be fictional one of these days when I make it extinct."

She grimaced at her foot, which was swelling up quite a lot. "Do you have some ice or something?" she asked.

"Yep," I said, not offering to get it for her.

She looked at me for a moment, before realising that I wasn't going to get it for her. She heaved herself up, huffing, and limped off to the kitchen.

She came back a while later, sitting back in the same place and putting her foot up on the coffee table, before placing a bag of frozen peas on top of her foot, which was now twice the size as usual.

"Anyway," she said, leaning back. "I came here to apologise. You were right, I shouldn't have reacted the way I did, and I should have waited for you to explain your side of the story to me. I was completely wrong, and I hope that you can forgive me," she said, sincerely.

I thought about it for a moment, before slowly shaking my head. "I'm sorry Bella, I don't think I can."

All colour vanished from Bella's face, and she looked shocked. "What?"

"You obviously don't trust me, and to be totally honest, I don't think that the reason you were annoyed with me was caused by me. I think that you were having a shit day, you were annoyed about James and about your life, and you just took it out on me. That's my personal opinion. And to be honest, I can't deal with it anymore. I get that your life is not great at the moment, you're having to do shitty stuff for other people, but you can't keep on taking it out on me every time your anger boils over the edge."

"But Edward," she said, desperately. "I need you, I need you so much. Just the thought of you brightens up my day, your morning visits to the shop puts a permanent smile on my face, I look forward to seeing you. That night we made love, was the first time that a guy has ever treated me like that, putting me first, treating me like a woman, not an object. That night was amazing, we are perfect for each other."

"So we had amazing sex once, and now we are perfect for each other?" I spat. "It doesn't work like that. I think that it's time to stop whatever we have and go back to how life was before we met."

Tears sparkled in her eyes, and she nodded, staring at her lap.

"Last night, you called me love," she said, as if clutching at straws. "Didn't you mean it?" she asked, her voice breaking.

"Bella," I said bluntly. "I was drunk. I was spewing shit."

Her face looked heartbroken, and for a moment I felt like the world's biggest motherfucker.

"Okay," she whispered, hiding her face from me. She reached over to take the peas off her foot, and made to get up.

"Ouch! Son of a bitch!" she screeched, clutching her foot, tears threatening to pour down her face.

"What?" I said.

"I can't move my foot, it is fucking killing me!"

"What do you mean you can't move it?" I said, worried. Did this mean that she couldn't leave?

"Exactly that!" she said, angrily. "Fuck! What am I going to do?"

"I'll call James to come and get you," I said.

"Don't you fucking dare!" she said, throwing the bag of now defrosted peas at me. "How am I going to explain why I am here so early in the morning while he is still asleep and unaware of my absence?"

That was a good point.

"Can you call an ambulance?" she suggested.

"Bella honey, I'm not sure how to tell you this...but your dear husband works at the fucking hospital. He gets a report every month saying which ambulance was on call, and where it went to pick up whom on what date. I'm not sure it will look too good if his wife is being picked up at 6.30am from another guy's apartment."

I sighed. "Can you walk?"

She glared at me. "Yeah, can't move my foot off the coffee table, but I can walk fine!"

I ran my hands through my hair. "Well, I'll have to take you to the hospital then," I said, not even bothering to hide the annoyance in my voice.

"No Edward, it's fine," she said. "I'll get up and- FUCKING SON OF A FUCKER!" she screamed, as she try to stand.

"Are you finished?" I asked, looking at her with a raised eyebrow.

She nodded miserably, and I walked over and lifted her over my shoulder quickly, as she screamed _in my fucking ear_.

"Bella!" I shouted. "My ear!"

"I'm sorry," she wailed, tears streaming down her face. "It really _really _hurts!"

I looped her handbag over my free arm, and we left the apartment, walking downstairs to my car. I sat her gently in the passenger seat, ignoring her random yelps, shrieks and gasps.

I propped her foot up on the dashboard. Her foot was swollen to three times its normal size, and was puffy and red, with a string of blue bruises down the side. In other words, beauty personified.

I pulled out of the lot and began driving quickly, swerving in and out of the traffic like a pro. I opened the windows, allowing the strong wind to course through the car, running through my hair. I looked over at Bella. Her eyes were closed, and she was holding onto the seatbelt as if she was hanging over the Grand Canyon, and it was the only thing stopping her from falling in.

"What's up Bella?" I shouted.

"Can you _please _drive like a human?" she yelled.

"Sorry, not possible," I grinned.

We were just five minutes away from the hospital, when a cop on a motorcycle came up next to me and motioned for me to pull over.

I frowned and did as he said.

He got off the motorbike and came over to my open window.

"Morning Sir," he said.

"Morning," I said cheerfully.

"Somebody phoned and told me your vehicle registration; apparently you're driving like a maniac. I have to say, I completely agree," the idiot said.

"No, I'm not," I protested. "Are you sure you're a real cop? How old are you anyway, twelve?"

"Old enough to have you convicted Sir," the smartass replied. "Have you been drinking Sir?"

"Just a few beers," I said.

"You've been drinking?" Bella shrieked. "You jackass!" she said, slapping my arm.

The cop was looking at Bella, having only just noticed her. He suddenly started to get nervous and shy.

"Miss," he mumbled, lifting his hat.

"Hello there officer," she said pleasantly. "I'm so sorry about my stupid brother here, but see my water broke two months early, I'm going into labour, and my brother was just trying to get me to the hospital quickly. You see, the baby's father turned out to be a total bastard, and I'm all on my own," she said.

I snorted at the pathetic excuse she had come up with. The cop was going to see straight through this one. She slapped me again.

Amazingly though, the officer seemed to believe it.

"I'm sorry to hear that Ma'am," the idiot said, trying to look at her stomach. Luckily, Bella had put her handbag on her lap, so you couldn't see if she was pregnant or not.

He cleared his throat. "Sir, I'm going to need to breathalyse you."

"What?" I said. "We haven't got time; my sister needs a doctor, fast!"

"Well I'm sorry Sir, but this is laid down by the government, not me. If you have a problem, you need to take it up with Mr. President, not me," the smug bastard smirked.

"What's your name?" I glared at him, waiting for his answer.

"Mike Newton," he replied.

"You listen here Newton," I hissed. While he was distracted, I threw an old soda can at Bella's foot, and she screamed out in pain.

"What's wrong Bella? Is it the baby?" I asked, pretending to be concerned.

She grabbed hold of her stomach. "Yes, I think it's coming soon!"

"Oh good lord," I said sarcastically.

"Shit, I think I'm crowning!" she screamed. I had to hand it to her- she was a damn good actress.

Newton looked scared.

"Honey, can you like, push it in or something?" I said, sounding anxious, as I opened the car door and started to get out.

"No, it's coming!" Bella screeched. "I'm going to give birth on the side of some road while my baby's father is gone and his uncle is being breathalysed!"

"It's okay," Newton said quickly, shutting the door again. "I'll let it slide; you're not that drunk anyway."

"No, no Officer, it's okay," I said, throwing open the door once more.

"No, really I insist," Newton said, firmly slamming the door. "I'll let you go just this once-"

Before he even had a chance to finish his sentence, I'd driven off, smirking.

"Idiot," I laughed. "I can't believe he bought that! Did he not notice that you had no baby bump?"

I looked over at Bella. She had her arms folded over her chest, and she did _not _look happy. "Pull over Edward, I'll drive," she said.

"What? No!" I said. "We're literally there now," I said, pulling into the car park.

"I can't believe you would drive drunk," she said, angry.

"I forgot, relax, take it easy," I said.

"No, drunk driving kills people," she said, getting more and more worked up by the second.

"Bella, we're fine," I said, rolling my eyes. "We didn't die."

I pulled into a space. "I can manage from here," she said. "You go home."

"Can you walk?" I asked.

"I'll ask someone to bring me a wheelchair," she said.

"I'll go get one," I said. I was still really pissed at her, but I wasn't a total heartless prick.

I parked the car, and she started to pull herself out, wincing and gasping.

She managed to get herself standing, and I started to walk to the entrance to get a wheelchair.

"Edward," she called when I was a few feet away.

I turned to look at her.

"A drunk driver killed my father," she said.

And I felt like shit.

I strolled off to find a wheelchair, grabbing one from the lobby, and wheeled it back quickly to where Bella was standing.

She winced frequently as she lowered herself into it. "You can leave now," she said.

"No, its fine," I began, but she cut me off.

"Just go Edward," she said harshly.

That shit hurt. Even though I didn't like her at the moment.

I walked round and started pushing the wheelchair, manoeuvring it through all of the parked cars. Bella was angrily saying something, but I wasn't listening as I wheeled her into the hospital and to the front desk.

"Bella Denali," I said to the receptionist.

"I can talk myself," she said sharply.

"What's wrong?" the receptionist said.

"She may have broken her ankle," I said.

The receptionist looked up at my face. "Edward!" she said. "I thought the voice was familiar."

"Hey Jess," I said. "What's the soonest we can be seen?" I asked.

"Ermm...well if you take a seat in the waiting room, you can probably be seen in about half an hour. It isn't too busy today."

I thanked her and pushed Bella to the waiting area.

We sat in silence while we waited, with none of us wanting to start a conversation with the other. I caught Bella glancing at me a few times, but she looked away again quickly.

After an eternity, a nurse walked out and called Bella's name.

I stood up and started to push again, despite Bella's protests, which were getting more and more abusive.

"Hello Bella," the nurse said kindly.

"Hi," I answered.

"She said _Bella _you asswipe, not Edward," Bella yelled at me.

The nurse chuckled. "You guys are so cute together."

"Oh no, no, we're not together," Bella laughed nervously. "No way."

She led us into a small examination room, and between us we got Bella onto the bed.

"Okay, I'll just go get Dr. Roberts for you," the nurse said, as she left.

"So you seemed pretty offended when she thought we were together. I'm not good enough for you now?" I asked, trying to piss her off.

"Nope, apparently I'm not good enough for you," she shot back. That shut me up pretty damn fast.

We sank back into an uncomfortable silence.

"How's your dear, sweet, loving husband?" I asked her.

"You know what Cullen? Fuck off back to your little hole. I certainly don't want you here," she said.

Just then the doctor walked in, a tall, dark haired guy.

"Hello Bella," he said. "How can I help?"

"Hi Doctor. Well, a door slammed on my foot and I think it may be broken," Bella said.

"Okay, I'll just take a look," he said, putting some glasses on as he prodded at Bella's foot. He felt it in a few places and examined it carefully for a few minutes, making notes on his clipboard. "Okay, it certainly seems broken, I'll just need you to have an X-ray to confirm it and then we can put it in a cast." He made another note on his clipboard.

"Just some routine questions before we do the X-ray. First of all, do you have any form of pacemaker?"

"Nope," Bella answered.

"Any joint replacements we should know about?"

Bella shook her head.

"Are you pregnant?"

"No," Bella said.

"Are you absolutely sure? When was your last period?" The doctor asked. "I'm sorry, I know it's a bit personal, but we have to ask for the records."

"Well my period finished just yesterday," Bella answered.

"Yep, then you aren't pregnant," the doctor said, writing all of this down.

He then turned to me. "If you want to go and wait in the waiting room, I'll wheel her down to the X-ray and then to you in the waiting room when we're done."

I nodded and walked back to the waiting room.

I sat down on a hard plastic seat and waited.

An hour later, the doctor helped Bella walk over using her crutches. I stood up and walked over towards them. I grabbed Bella's waist and helped her to walk. She thanked the doctor again, and we began to make our way out of the hospital.

"Everything okay?"

"Just a broken foot, nothing major, you can piss off now," Bella said.

"No chance," I said, picking her up bridal style.

"Edward put me down," she said through gritted teeth.

"I may be an ass, but I'm not a total bastard. Until you're home, I'm not leaving," I said.

She didn't say another word until we pulled up on her driveway.

"Thank you," she said as she got herself out of the car.

As I was driving away I remembered about my appointment with Rosalie. I had about an hour and a half until I had to be at her office, so I decided to go home and get cleaned up first.

The moment I got home, I jumped straight into the shower, washing the long ordeal of the morning off of me with the hot, relaxing water. I then spent a while shaving, making sure that my face was completely clear, and got changed into smart black slacks and a white shirt with a pale blue jumper over the top.

I phoned the takeaway and told them my order so that I could literally pick up my order and leave, without having to wait later, and then brushed my teeth, before grabbing my keys and driving to the Chinese takeaway. I collected my order and drove to Rosalie's office.

I grabbed the food and walked into the lobby of the office. Rosalie was sat on a black leather chair, waiting for me.

I walked over behind her, and started waving the food in front of her face.

"Edward!" she said. "Is that sweet chilli noodles I smell?"

"Of course," I said.

"Good, let's go to my office," she said, getting up and leading me to her office.

She led me up some stairs and down a corridor, before leading me through a door into her huge office.

She had a large desk in front of the floor-to-ceiling window, with bookshelves covering the whole wall opposite to the window. The door we came through was also against this wall, with the door in between two bookshelves. Against the wall to our left, a large TV was mounted against the wall, with a small couch opposite with a footstool. The final wall had another door in the middle of it, and huge potted plants either side of it, with several shelves and pictures hung up across the wall.

As we walked further into the office, I noticed that there were a few small stairs leading up to the desk and window, so that this portion was slightly higher than the rest of the office; in short, it was everyone's dream office.

"Come over to the couch," she said, taking the food off of me and putting it on the footstool.

"Your office is amazing," I said.

"Thanks," she answered, through a mouthful of noodles. I sat down next to her and tucked into the mountain of food.

"So," she said, swallowing, "What's wrong?"

I got my cell phone out and played James's little speech to her.

Once it was finished, she wordlessly stood up quickly and walked over to her desk, picking up her phone.

"Sally, I need you to cancel all of my appointments for this afternoon, and tomorrow morning please. Phone my clients and apologise for me, and tell them that I will phone each of them to reschedule appointments, and then email me a list of all of them."

She slammed the phone down and took off her black blazer, throwing it to one side.

"Right chief, let's get started."

I breathed a sigh of relief. I knew I could count of Rosalie.

"First of all, this is a simple case of domestic abuse, and the shit could get up to seven years in prison, as the victim actually suffered physical injury. On top of that, it seems that she has also suffered frequent sexual abuse, which is another minimum of four years, because it is a separate offence. That's eleven years already. On top of that, we can get him up to one year for employing the services of a prostitute, which is what Bella will be classed as in this case, and a one thousand dollar fine. That's twelve years, straight away, without even going into anything else, like how he forced Bella to please that other woman. We can also have his job taken away from, depending on what it is, and have this permanently put on his record, so that he can never work with in a social environment, like hospitals, schools, care homes, or even shops, ever again."

"Wow," I said, impressed. "You figured all that out already?"

"Yep, I work fast," she replied.

"Also, we need to get the details of the woman who sold Bella to James, and we can get her convicted for up to seven years, with a hefty fine and her brothel closed down, with a permanent note on her record."

"What could Bella be charged with?" I asked.

"Well the main thing against her is that obviously, she's a prostitute, and if she gets charged with anything, it will be because of that. The most you can get in this state is up to three months and a small fine. However, in this case, she is basically the victim, so we might be able to get her off on just community service and a fine, with nothing permanent on her record."

"So could we put a case together to put him behind bars indefinitely without affecting Bella too much?" I asked.

"That's why I've taken the rest of the day and tomorrow off. We have a fair amount of evidence against him, and I'm sure that you could find more in their house, so it shouldn't be too difficult," she said.

"Wait, what? I have to go snooping in their house?" I said. "Can't I just act as a witness or something?"

"Yeah, we'll need you to be a witness as well, but if we can find even more evidence then he gets locked up for longer. So make up some excuse, go to their house, and look through his things. Look for anything like forms, receipts, maybe if the bastard keeps a diary? Anything that could incriminate him. Where does he work?"

"At the hospital with me," I said.

"Really?" An evil smile spread across her face. "Well he is going to be your new best friend. Take him out drinking whenever you can, try and get more confessions out of him. Also, we'll arrange an evening where I'll come to the club as well and see if I can get anything out him. Look through his desk at work as well; he'd be more likely to hide things where people would be less likely to look, for example, amongst paperwork or work files."

"Sure," I said, shrugging. "It shouldn't be too hard. The only problem is, me and his wife had a huge argument, and we aren't talking anymore, so getting into the house may be a problem."

"Hmm..." Rosalie's face adopted a look of concentration. "Have you _any _excuse to talk to her at all?"

"Well, I sort of broke her foot this morning, so I could and ask her how she is?"

"Excellent!" Rosalie said, beaming. "How did you break her foot though?"

"It's a long story, I'll explain later," I said.

"Okay, let's get started on this case. Hopefully, it should take only a week to gather all of the evidence together and have the case completely ready to present in ten days."

"That soon?" I asked, my jaw dropping.

"I said I worked fast," she answered, looking smug.

"There is just one thing though," I started. "Bella doesn't know about any of this, and I don't want to go ahead and do anything without her permission."

"No problem, we'll put the case together anyway, and if she doesn't want to report him, we'll just put it away. That way, we'll still have it if she changes her mind, or he does the same thing with someone else once his and Bella's contract runs out. We'll go and talk to her when everything is sorted out, and then she can weigh out the pros and cons and make a final decision about what she wants to do. Ultimately, it's her choice, so she's free to do what she wants. Our job is to make the case."

I fucking loved this woman.

* * *

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	19. Chapter 19

**Here it is folks, the next chapter!**

**Not too long to write and post this time...still not brillant, I admit it, but two weeks is better than four right? Plus, it's quite a long chapter! Quick warning- a lemon and lots of language. **

**Also, I am going to put a poll on my profile, and just see what people think about the following question: Should Lauren actually be pregnant? I have had a lot of messages and reviews with mixed opinions about whether she should or shouldn't be pregnant, and I am just interested to see what everybody thinks! So please, go along and vote for your opinion!**

**Thank you as always to all of my readers, reviewers and people who are adding me to alerts, favourites etc. **

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******Disclaimer: Stephanie Meyer owns the characters, this plot is mine though!**

******Enough talking by me, let's get on with it!**

******Enjoy!**

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BPOV

I limped through the front door, my crutches making a loud clunking noise beside me. I went into the kitchen, throwing my bag down onto the kitchen table, before sitting down myself.

I looked at the time: 11.15am.

James was probably at work; I couldn't hear him moving around, and his car was gone from the driveway.

I got my phone out of my bag, and quickly rang Angela.

"Hey Ange, I can't come in today," I said.

"Hi Bella, why, what's wrong?" she asked, concerned.

"I broke my foot this morning," I said glumly.

"Wow Bella, I think that's the earliest you've ever gotten yourself an injury," Angela laughed.

"I'm glad that you're enjoying my suffering," I said playfully.

"Sorry," she said, stifling another giggle. "What happened?"

"It got slammed in a door."

"Ouch, sounds painful. Anyway, it's really busy at the moment, so I have to go, take your time, get better soon," Angela said.

"Bye," I said, hanging up.

So it seemed that I had a whole day to myself apparently. No husband, no work, no fucking foot to move anywhere.

I sighed, and tried to think of what to do. It had been a long time since I had had any time to myself like this.

I dragged my bag back towards me and pulled my diary out, deciding to work on that for a while. I had no idea why I was still doing it to be honest, but I really needed to speak to Carlisle, and if this was the way to do it, I would have to do it.

_AUGUST 2006_

_The next morning, I was awoken from a sleepless night by someone throwing open the door. I opened my eyes, looking at the figure. _

_She was a short, middle aged woman, dressed simply in a pair of black trousers and white blouse- oddly normal for this place. _

"_Get up and follow me," she commanded, and I obeyed quickly. Everyone in this place was totally mad, and I didn't want to give anyone any excuse to abuse me. _

_I followed her down corridors, passing tall, leggy girls, around the same age as me. No one looked particularly happy, and for some reason were all just dressed in lingerie. I had no idea why, but I didn't want to ask. _

_Finally, we went through a door, and I was standing in a room that looked just like a treatment room in a beauty parlour; everything was sparklingly white and clean, and smelt of flowers. In the middle of the room was a couch, with a trolley next to it, covered with various items. The wall opposite had a large mirror on it, and the other walls were empty, covered with big canvas pictures, and the occasional shelf dotted around the room, covered in coloured bottles and scented candles, all lit up. The back of the room had a large bath tub and shower cubicle, dazzlingly clean, like some freaking bleach advert._

_The room was very floral and feminine, but I would rather have been anywhere else than there. _

"_I'm Jane," the woman said. "The toilet is through that door at the back, quickly do your business, and then take a shower. Shampoo and soap are on that shelf over there, choose whichever one you want, and take your time."_

"_Thanks," I muttered, grateful to be able to wash the filth of last night off. _

"_I almost forgot," she said, putting a hand on my arm. She grabbed an empty bottle off of a shelf and handed it to me. "Pee in here please, we need to run some tests so that we know you are in good health, and have no sexual infections or anything. Also, are you on any birth control or anything?"_

"_Yes," I said, grabbing the bottle from her outstretched hand. "Birth control pills."_

"_Good," she nodded. _

_I quickly went to the toilet, and when I came out, Jane was seated on the couch. I went over and handed her the bottle of urine, before going to the shelf that she had pointed out, and chose a nice smelling shampoo, conditioner and soap, deliberately taking my time, but when I turned around, she was still sitting on the couch, watching me._

"_Um, I think I'm going to go in the shower now," I said, trying to give her a subtle hint._

"_Go right ahead sweetie."_

_I gave her a pointed look. Realisation dawned on her face. "You want me to leave?"_

"_Please, I don't feel comfortable being watched," I said nervously. _

_She let out a laugh. "Sweetie, here you are going to have to do an awful lot of things you are not comfortable with- you get no privacy here. Part of being a good whore, is that you have no inhibitions, and Tanya is insistent that girls here are confident, for example, everyone wears lingerie, no proper clothes whilst walking around, like we saw. The only privacy you get is when you go to the toilet."_

_My heart sank. _

_I walked over to the shower, deciding that I had no choice in this. I turned the shower on, and stripped as quickly as I could, jumping into the shower. The hot water scalded my skin, and steam billowed out of the small cubicle. I lathered the shampoo into my hair quickly, violently scrubbing my scalp, doing the same with the conditioner afterwards and finally with the creamy shower gel over my disgustingly impure body. _

_I washed the remnants of the gel away, and reached for the towel rail, but there was nothing there. _

"_Just come straight over," Jane said, so I did. _

_I walked over to the couch, where Jane had spread a large towel out."Lie down here," she said._

_I lay down, letting the softness of the towel caress me gently. Jane came over, holding a bottle of lotion, and rubbed it roughly all over by body, until my skin was smooth and soft. She then ordered me to flip over, and she did the same to the back of my body, before giving me a quick massage to 'ease my tension'. "Why the hell do you think I would be fucking tense you bitch?" I thought sarcastically. _

_Then the pain began. _

_She waxed every inch of my body, quickly, violently and painfully. Bitch. _

_She then spent ages on my hair, brushing it, drying it and then curling it slightly. I was ordered next to stand up so that she could measure me all over for some stupid reason that I wasn't listening to; I had switched off by then, and both my attention and my embarrassment had long gone. _

_She ordered me to lie down one last time, so that she could give me a longer, more relaxing massage. She let me cover up with a towel for this bit and she eased the knots out of my back. _

"_So, why are you here? You don't look like the normal type," she said. _

"_My mum's ill and I need quick money," I replied. _

"_That's rough," Jane said. "Just some advice," Jane continued. "I heard about you and Tanya last night. Don't get too mixed up with her, she's a total cow I know, but aside from that she can be pretty dangerous. Do what she says, don't deny anything she tells you to do, or she could land you in lots of shit. I've seen it happen before, and I don't want to see it happen again, not to you. You seem like a nice girl and you're here for a reason, not like those bimbos who need money to fuel drug habits. You seem like a good girl Bella; stay that way."_

_I stayed quiet. Great. _

_Jane finished soon after, giving me a robe to wrap up in, and some black lace lingerie to wear, just like the other girls. I quickly slipped them on, as she ushered me out. _

"_If you have any problems, come to me," she said. "This time next week, you need to be back here anyway, but if you need any advice, medical help, or just someone to talk to, feel free to come along any time." I felt slightly shocked; someone was actually being nice to me._

"_Thanks," I said. "You're the first decent person I've met since I got here."_

_She smiled briefly. "You remind me of myself when I was your age. I was here for similar reasons, and I started out just like you."_

"_Why did you stay on? Why not leave?" I asked._

"_I had a small disagreement with Tanya, and then she made me stay here as a sort of nurse and beautician if you like. Basically, to face part of the consequences of not doing what she wanted," she said, grimacing. _

_I didn't ask what the rest of her consequences were. I had a feeling that I would regret asking._

"_I've been told that you need to go to Tanya's office, she wants to see you again, but you have to eat first she said, so go down to the kitchens then to her office." _

_Great. Just fucking great. _

"_Thanks Jane," I said sincerely. _

_I walked through the narrow corridors, feeling very exposed in my outfit and desperately trying to remember where the kitchen w_

_I eventually found it, and the lady in it made me a delicious toasted tomato and mozzarella panini with some soda. I wasn't the slightest bit hungry, but made myself finish the whole sandwich- I hadn't eaten anything last night either, and I didn't to faint. _

_After I'd wolfed it down, I went in search of Tanya's office, managing to get lost in the labyrinth of corridors. Finally, I recognised the heavy door with her name printed on it. I knocked twice, and Tanya herself opened the door, dressed in her usual outfit. _

"_Bella," she greeted. "Come in." I instantly felt nervous. Why was she so cheery?_

_There was a man sat at her desk, a tall, dark haired guy. Tanya led me over. "This is Chris," she said. The man's eyes looked over my body. To be honest, he was fairly hot, I thought, trying to be positive. _

"_First proper test. I want you to use what you learnt last night, and give him the hottest fuck of his fucking life. You do it right, you get paid more, and I can have you out of here in five days time, going off to live with your new husband. Understand? Fuck him. Right here. Right now." She tottered out of the room on her heels and shit the door behind her. I heard a key turn, and the door locked. _

_I was very nervous to say in the least. I had no idea what to do, even how to start, but I wanted to get out of here as soon as possible, so I stood tall, threw my shoulders back, and took a deep breath._

_I walked a few steps towards him, long, confident strides, swaying my hips. I stopped about two metres before I reached him, and slowly untied my robe, moving the fabric a centimetre at a time, as his eyes fixed on the movement. I took the robe off completely, and threw it aside, smirking at him. His eyes darkened, and he licked his lips. _

_I went over and stood directly in front of him, so that my boobs were level with his face, and quickly unbuttoned his shirt, revealing a toned chest. I sat myself down on his lap, the feel of his big, thick arousal through his trousers, turning me on. I pushed myself closer to him, grinding myself against him, eliciting moans from both of us. _

_I grabbed the back of his neck, and looked up at him through my lashes, fixing him with a long sultry stare. His breathing hitched slightly, and I started grinding against him harder. I took one of his nipples into my mouth and swirled my tongue around it, biting down on it slightly, as he moaned._

_I then slowly slid off his lap, gaining some gasps and groans, so that I was kneeling before him. I unzipped his trousers, painfully slowly, making sure to brush his cock with my hands, until his erection sprung free from its confines. _

_He was already barefoot, so I slid the trousers and his boxers off him, and threw them aside, before beginning to stroke his huge cock. _

_He sat back in his chair, his eyes shut, and moaning loudly. I decided to tease him slightly, and kissed the head, making Chris shout a string of expletives. _

_I could tell from the way that he was panting and moaning that he was about to cum, so I suddenly let go of his cock and got up._

_His eyes snapped open, and met mine, as I towered over him. Silently, I motioned for him to get up. Confused, he did as I said. I quickly threw my arm across Tanya's desk, clearing it completely, and pushed him over to it. _

"_Lie down," I commanded. I looked around the room, trying to find something to use. My eyes finally landed on a few of Tanya's scarves hung up on a coat rack in the corner. _

_I quickly grabbed them, and came back. Chris was lying across the table. "Grab hold of the table legs," I commanded, as powerfully as I could. Once he had done that, I tied his wrists to the legs of the table, and using the longest scarf to tie both feet to the desk. _

_I clambered onto the desk, standing with my legs either side of his head, and began to wriggle out of the underwear. I reached behind me, and unclasped my bra, dropping it beside be, and decided to give Chris a little extra show. I grabbed my breasts in both hands, and began to knead them, moaning. I then moved on to my nipples, pinching them and rolling them in my fingers. _

_He looked up at me longingly, and I instantly felt even more aroused. He found me sexy!_

"_You want a taste?" I asked, and he nodded, eagerly._

_I bent down, so that I was lying on top of him, and he grabbed one of my nipples in his mouth. _

_I moaned loudly, threading my fingers in his hair, pulling him closer to me. "Might as well enjoy myself a bit," I thought. _

_I pulled away, and he frowned. I winked at him, and stood back up, wriggling out of my black panties, and his frown quickly turned into lust again. _

"_Fuck, you have a beautiful pussy," he breathed. _

"_You like it?" I asked sexily._

"_Hell yes."_

"_You want your huge, hard cock inside my tight, wet pussy?" I asked innocently. _

"_Please," he groaned, and I quickly slammed myself down onto him, and we both moaned out in pleasure. _

_He thrust his hips to match my rhythm perfectly, and he was coming close to his climax, as was I. _

"_Don't you dare cum yet!" I panted, warning him. "I am going first in this one sailor."_

_After a few more thrusts, I came loudly, moaning, my legs shaking uncontrollably. _

_Chris was still thrusting into me. "Can I cum yet?" he pleaded. _

_I got off him quickly, and walked round and stood by his head. "You can cum when I say."_

_I sat myself on his chest, my legs either side of him, and my core spread out in front of him, glisteningly wet. _

_I trailed my fingers down towards it, and his eyes followed their journey. He was straining and craning his neck to see. I hopped off of him quickly, and grabbed him a few cushions, placing them under his head. He moaned in contentment. Fuck, I needed to get the hell out of this place, and he was hardly going to enjoy himself with a sore neck was he?_

_I sat myself back on his chest, and brought my fingers to my core, teasing him. I pumped them in and out quickly, moaning loudly, repeatedly shouting his name. My arousal spread across his chest, trickling down in rivulets, across the valleys of his muscular chest. He stretched his neck, and eagerly stuck his tongue out, trying to catch some of it. _

_Noticing what he was trying to do, I got off his chest and moved further across the desk, squatting over his mouth, and he swirled his skilful tongue around my clit, and plunged it in and out of me. Needless to say, I came not long after. _

"_You taste fucking amazing. Please can I orgasm now?" he begged petulantly. "You've had two!"_

"_You get only one," I said, and before he could protest, and bent down and whispered "and it is going to be the orgasm of your life."_

_I pulled away, smirking. That shut him up. _

"_I swear, the minute you untie me, you are going to be very sorry," he growled, returning the smirk, and turning me on again. This guy was sexy. I doubted that my luck would last with sexy, male clients. _

"_That doesn't give me much incentive to untie you, does it now? Although, I am very impressed with you, you have held out an awfully long time without cumming. Few men have that much restraint."_

"_And my restraint, good though it is, isn't going to last much longer," he said. _

_I decided to untie the guy; he had been tied up a long time, and I was doing all of the work here. I untied his feet first, and moved towards his arms. The moment they were free, his hands went straight to my breasts. He groped at them roughly, pinching the nipples, hard, and biting at them. _

_I lay down on the table beneath him, as his hands and mouth explored my writhing body, igniting my skin with every touch. _

_The contours of his body moulded perfectly to mine, and there wasn't even an inch between us. He cock was near to my core, and to be honest, I was longing for him to plunge it deep into me. _

_His tongue found my core again, and once again, he made me cum with it. He moved his body back up again, and lay down beside me for a moment. _

_Shit! Had he had enough of waiting? _

_I had to do something, so I quickly rolled myself on top of him, but he was too close to the edge, and we both fell onto the floor, me on top of him. _

_Instantly, he rolled us over, and began kissing me furiously, with raw passion. _

_Our hands travelled across each other's bodies, and we were grinding against each other like a pair of hormonal teenagers._

_Our moans reverberated around the room, as we clawed at each other._

_With a sudden burst of inspiration, I pulled us both up, and led us into Tanya's bathroom, shoving him roughly into the huge glass shower cubicle and turning on the water. _

_A long stream of hot water flowed over us as we continued making out and pleasuring each other, and I internally thanked God that the water had not come out cold. _

_Our moans seemed louder in the glass cubicle, as they echoed and swirled around us like the water and steam. _

_We stayed in there for a long time, battling for dominance, shoving each other against the cold walls and biting and licking every inch of each other's bodies. _

_By now, I decided that his building orgasm must be getting painful, so I switched off the shower, and wrapped us up in some thick towels. I kissed him again, and without breaking the kiss, led him back into the office and over to the couch. _

_I lay down, throwing the towel aside, and he settled himself between my legs. _

"_Hey Chris?" I panted. "Do you still want to cum?"_

_Before I could even finish my sentence, he was inside me, slamming into me, again and again, with power, force and built up frustration. _

_He came quickly, spilling inside me, and collapsing on top of me, screaming my name among some choice profanities. He thrust a few more times, and I came as well, clawing at his back, and screaming just as loudly, as we both clawed at each other during our toe-curling ecstasy. _

_After we had ridden out our climaxes, he lay on top of me, his hair tickling my chin, and his strong powerful arms wrapped around my small waist. His weight was crushing me, but I didn't protest. If he wanted to lie on top of me, then he could, as long as I got out of here quicker. I placed my hands on his back, my fingertips ghosting over it. _

_He was breathing gently. "Bella," he said, his voice hoarse. "Wow." _

_I chuckled, as he yawned and closed his eyes. A few minutes later, I realised that he was asleep, so I pulled Tanya's afghan over both of us. I knew that I got lucky with this client, that he was hot and I got so turned on and actually enjoyed the sex, but I knew that it wouldn't be like this with every client. Not every client would be this sexy, and enjoyable to fuck. _

_Feeling tired and contented, I decided to go to sleep as well. _

_A while later, I felt Chris get off of me, and I opened one eye. Tanya was stood at the door, and he put his trousers on and walked over to her, collecting his other clothes on the way. They left the room, shutting the door behind them._

_I decided to get up as well, putting my underwear and robe back on, and sat at the desk, flushing at the memory of what had happened on this very chair. _

_I sat and waited for Tanya, and soon she walked in, smirking. She shut and locked the door behind her, and came to sit on her side of the desk. _

"_Bella, let's look around the room," she said suddenly, getting back up. I stood up as well. _

"_The entire contents of my desk, papers, files, contracts, lying all over the floor, not just one area, the whole floor. The designer scarves strewn across the floors and furniture. The cushions, on the table and floor. The papers next to the table that are all creased, as though someone lay on them, and let's not forget the clothes that were carelessly thrown across the room up until twenty minutes ago." She listed each individual thing, and pointed at it, as I felt my face flush. _

"_There are wet towels thrown on the carpet, and let's go into the bathroom..." she said, leading me over. There was water everywhere, the shower door was open, and there were marks all over the glass doors where we had pressed each other against it, and because of the steam, had left unintentional prints of each other. I blushed a deeper crimson. Tanya didn't even need to give a description. _

_We went back to the office, and Tanya pointed out her creased couch, and her expensive, hand-woven afghan scrunched up and in the corner of the couch. _

_We sat back down in silence. _

"_I'm sorry," I blurted out. "I'll clean it all myself."_

"_It is a very special honour to be allowed to use my office with a client, and very, very few have ever been able to do it. I saw potential in you yesterday, and thought that you were worthy to use the room. I see now that I made the right decision."_

_I looked up at her shocked, thinking that she was joking. I saw in her face, that she was deadly serious. _

"_Do you know how long you were with the client?" she asked. _

_I shook my head._

"_Just over four hours."_

_My eyes widened. Wow._

"_And I have to say, I was impressed."_

_Now I was confused, and I must have looked it, because Tanya elaborated. "I was watching, I have security cameras."_

_My face felt like it was burning. _

"_And the security guards down the hall, bearing in mind that the hallway in question is over seven metres long, claimed that they could hear Chris's moans from there. I have just spoken to Chris, and he said that this was the best fuck of his life, and paid very generously. He also requested your company again. As promised, you can leave within five days, and everything that he paid, is yours."_

_I felt ecstatic at the news. I could leave soon! On top of that, I had managed to get into Tanya's good books!_

_She pulled out a cheque. "Here's your money. For the rest of the evening, you can go out to town and pay it into a bank or treat yourself to something if you wish, as an extra reward from me. All I ask is that you're back by 10pm, and you don't drink."_

"_Thank you," I said, grabbing my cheque and bounding out of the room, running back to my own room, not caring that I was just dressed in lingerie or about the huge smile on my face. _

_I ran into my room, slamming the door behind me, and got some denim shorts out of my bag and a clean tank top, and took a quick but thorough shower in my en-suite, scrubbing at my body until it was red and I felt squeaky clean. I slipped on some comfortable sandals, slipped the cheque into my purse, and ran out of the oppressing building as fast as I could without falling. _

_My first stop: the bank. _

_My eyes nearly popped out of their sockets when I saw the amount on the cheque. $5,000!_

_I paid it all into mine and Jacob's joint account, every single penny, and then decided to walk to Central Park. _

_During the forty minute walk, I felt strangely happy and exhilarated, as though I had achieved something amazing. In reality, all I had done was fuck someone, and had earned $5,000 for it. _

_It was a beautiful evening to celebrate my triumph; the air was dry and warm, with the gentlest of breezes blowing through my loose, wet hair. I bought a bagel off of a street vendor, using only the small amount of money that I had put aside for my own living expenses, and walked the streets, observing all of the people who were taking their normal lives for granted. _

_I decided to go and sit near to the lake in Central Park. I had been to New York a few times before, and Central Park was always my favourite place to visit; there was always a sense of peace and tranquillity there, and I loved to sit by the lake, facing the New York skyline, and just think. _

_I found a patch of grass to sit on, and made myself comfortable. The sun was just beginning to set, and the sky was a myriad of oranges, pinks, purples, yellows, all merging to form the brilliant blue that was still at the top of them all. Pink tinged clouds drifted by, and the lake lapped gently at the grass mere feet away from me, trying to break out of its constraints. _

_I lay back shut my eyes, feeling completely calm and oddly relaxed for the first time since I got to New York. _

_I decided to phone Jacob, and so got my cell phone out of my bag and dialled the familiar number. _

"_Hello?" Jacob asked. _

"_Hola," I replied, a smile instantly lighting up my face. _

"_Bella!" Jacob exclaimed my name so loudly that I had to move the phone away from my ear for a moment. _

"_The one and only. How are you?"_

"_I'm good, how are you babes?"_

"_I'm fine. Look, before I forget, I've just been to the bank and paid in $5,000," I said._

"_Already?" Jacob sounded stunned. "How did you get it that fast? You've only been there two weeks!"_

"_I've just been working really long hours, everyday. It turns out Angela's firm had an opening, so I got an instant job. It's the last week of the month, and so pay day!" I said. "They decided to pay me as well; I've been doing my own work and covering for other people. Plus, I've been working weekends."_

"_Wow Bella, I'm impressed! Don't work too hard though; take it a bit easier, okay? You're in New York for goodness sake, you have to relax and enjoy it!" he sounded happy for me, but there was a tinge of concern there too. _

"_Sure sure," I said, uneasily. I hated lying, especially to Jacob. We had known each other since we were tiny, and grew up together. He knew me better than anyone. It was him and Billy who I used to go and stay with when Renee went on holiday; it was him who helped me with homework and him who fixed up my first truck for me. And it was him who I used to go to for comfort when my dad died unexpectedly when I was just thirteen. _

"_So what are you doing?" he asked. _

"_Nothing, I just finished work and decided to come out to Central Park for a while and relax. How about you?" _

"_I was just on my way to see Renee," he said. _

"_You're driving whilst on the phone?" I shrieked._

"_No, no, I'd just parked when you rang," he said, reassuring me. _

"_Good," I said. I hated people who didn't care enough to concentrate when driving with a passion. "How is she?"_

"_She's doing well, all of her bones are healing up nicely, and the doctors are just waiting for another two weeks so that they can take her off the pain medication and put her on the cancer medications and then start treatment on that. They haven't told Renee about the cancer, just as you asked them."_

_I nodded, even though he couldn't see me. I had specifically asked before I left that Renee wasn't told about the cancer yet until it was confirmed and we found out how bad it was. There was no need to panic her and slow down her recovery of her other injuries. _

"_Have you spoken to her recently?" he asked. _

"_I spoke to her a few days ago," I answered. "She seemed really tired though, so I only spoke to her for a while before telling her to go to sleep."_

"_Yeah, she's been very tired these last few days, I don't know why. I think it's just her body trying to conserve energy for the repairs. I've been going over to see her every evening for few hours, as promised, and I've been dropping Billy off at the hospital everyday. From what I hear, they're keeping each other company, and talk and laugh the whole day long. He takes some food with him, and they seem to genuinely enjoy each other's company. She's definitely not bored, she seems to be having a whale of a time!" he said, sounding happy. _

"_That's good," I smiled, watching the clouds float lazily across the sky. _

"_Yeah," he agreed. _

_He chattered on for a while longer, and we just talked about random things. It felt like he was right there, lying in Central Park with me, and for the first time since I got here, I didn't feel so alone and useless. _

_When there were no traces of blue left in the sky, and the noise of the city was winding down, we hung up, after I had made Jacob promise to phone me soon. _

_I felt like I ought to phone Renee, but Jacob was on his way to meet her. Plus, she could be asleep, and I didn't want to wake her. _

_I lay for a while longer, before deciding to head back. I walked back slowly, savouring the sight of night in New York City, the sounds and the smells, and appreciate the temporary freedom that I had. _

I put my pen down and stretched out my fingers.

My foot was beginning to throb now, so I got up and shuffled over to the medicine cabinet, taking some painkillers.

I heard the front door open, and James strolled into the kitchen. "Hey," he said. "What happened to your foot?" he asked.

"Oh nothing, I just broke it," I said dismissively.

"How?" he asked, opening the fridge and surveying its contents.

_Crap. _"Oh, I was just at the supermarket and knocked a crate of melons on it." _Where the fuck did that come from?_

"Oh, okay," he said, grabbing a beer from the fridge and going and sitting down in front of the TV. _Charming. _

I breathed a sigh of relief that he believed it.

The next day, I called for a cab and went into work as normal, where I literally sat at a table all day mixing up ingredients to make batters, dough and fillings, and icing, decorating and assembling cakes and pastries. Basically, all of the easy jobs, while my staff worked at the counter and bought all the ingredients over to me and didn't let me move a muscle.

The next few weeks passed exactly in this way, with me calling a cab to and from work, and then ordering in take away for me and James. I had no energy left by the end of the day to cook as well as keep on top of the housework with my broken foot.

For the duration of these few weeks though, neither Emmett nor Edward had come in the bakery, and I had no idea why. I mean, obviously Edward wouldn't, but why wasn't Emmett coming? I hoped that everything was okay; it just wasn't making sense to me why he wasn't coming.

On the four week anniversary of my broken foot, James had to leave to go to a medical conference in Texas for a week.

On the same day, the most unexpected person turned up on my doorstep.

I was sitting in the study, curled up on an armchair with a rubbish romance novel, when someone rang the doorbell.

I pulled myself up off the chair, and used my crutches to slowly come downstairs and open the door.

Standing on the other side was the one person who I least wanted to see right now.

He smiled his sexy crooked grin at me, and ran his hand through his dishevelled bronze hair, his smouldering emerald eyes penetrating deep into mine.

"Bella," he smiled, holding out a bunch of flowers towards me.

"Edward," I choked out.

"How are you?" he asked.

"Fine thank you, how are you?"

"I'm good."

We stood awkwardly for a while in the doorway, not knowing what to say to each other.

"How's the foot?"

"Better. I get the cast off in another two weeks."

"Good."

The conversation was oddly formal, but with neither of us knowing what to say, was very disjointed and uncomfortably silent.

"I actually wanted to talk to you about something," he said nervously. "These are for you by the way," he said suddenly, holding out the flowers towards me, a large bunch of bright pink and orange gerbera daisies.

"Thanks," I said, taking them from him, and hiding my face behind them by pretending the sniff them.

"Can I come in?" he asked.

Against my better judgement, I moved aside and let him in, shutting the door. To be perfectly honest, I was intrigued as to what the mighty Edward Cullen had to say to me _now, _four weeks after the argument.

"We can go sit in the kitchen," I offered.

"Where were you sitting before?" he asked.

"The study."

"Perfect!" he said enthusiastically. I felt my brow furrow; why was that perfect? He offered no explanation, and carried on talking. "Let's go sit in there."

"Ermm, Edward?" I said. "The study's upstairs, it'll take me ages just getting there. Let's just sit downstairs somewhere."

"I don't mind waiting for you, study's fine," he said quickly, and began bounding up the stairs before I could protest. He sat down on the top step, and motioned for me to hurry up.

I huffed and began going up, leaving the flowers on the first step; I couldn't hold them in one hand and hold two crutches as well.

I finally got myself upstairs, and directed Edward into the study, where he sat down comfortably, leaned back, and stared at my face. I sat down opposite and waited for him to start.

When he didn't, I decided to ask him what he wanted.

"I'm just thinking where to start," he said. "Could I have a drink though please?"

"Jesus Christ, you couldn't have asked me this while we were downstairs?" I said angrily. "Get your own drink, ass wipe!"

"Well I would, but I don't want to mess up your kitchen," he said.

"Edward, will you hurry the fuck up, say whatever it was you came to say, and then get the fuck out of here," I said harshly.

"I really need a drink," he whined.

"Tough luck, kiss my ass."

"Can I?" he said. I didn't know if he was being serious or not.

"Fuck off. What did you want?"

"A drink," he said again.

"Tough, you're not having one," I said, growing tired of his stubbornness.

"Just one drink?" he pleaded.

"If you have a drink, you only get five minutes to drink it, talk, and then get the hell out of here," I said.

"Okay. Can I have a coffee?"

"Any milk or sugar?" I asked through gritted teeth.

"Surprise me baby," he whispered sexily.

I swallowed, blushed, and grabbed my crutches, hobbling out as fast as I could, tripping over everything in my way. I could have sworn that I heard Edward chuckling behind me.

When I reached the foot of the stairs, I thought that I heard a bang or crash of some sort, as though something had fallen on the floor upstairs, but it was completely silent afterwards, so I thought that I had probably imagined it.

I made Edward a quick espresso in the coffee machine, both wanting it to hurry up so that I could see why he was here, and also glad for the distraction and excuse to leave him alone.

The coffee took a while, both a blessing and a curse, and I tried to think how to take it upstairs. I had a burst of inspiration, and poured it into an empty water bottle, tucked it under my arm, and began the long ascent back upstairs.

I entered the study, and Edward was sat exactly where he had been when I left.

"Here you go," I said, waving the bottle at him. I chose that exact moment to trip, and Edward, the gallant gentleman, caught me on my way down to meet the floor. Unfortunately, I was still holding the bottle of coffee, which I dropped when I tripped. The lid had fallen off at some point between me falling and me dropping the bottle, and the contents of the bottle were now on Edward's lap.

"Shit!" he hissed, jumping up, and dropping me on the floor.

"Son of a bitch!" I shouted, a new pain shooting up my foot. "You couldn't have let me fall the first time?" I yelled.

"You dropped boiling hot coffee on my fucking cock!" he screamed, cupping his man parts as I sniggered at him, all pain forgotten.

"It's not funny," he glared, jumping around.

"You need to get the coffee off the trousers first, otherwise it'll keep soaking in and burn worse," I said, through my giggles. I crawled out to the hallway and grabbed him a towel. "Here," I said throwing it at him.

He dabbed at his crotch, swearing and hissing at the pain.

"If you push at it, it's going to hurt more obviously, you're pushing the hot fabric against your...you know," I said, rolling my eyes.

I crawled towards him and took the towel off him. "Here," I said. I carefully peeled the fabric of the trousers away from the skin, and used the towel to get all of the liquid out.

Suddenly, I realised what I was doing, and more importantly _where _I was doing it, and blushed furiously.

I started laughing uncontrollably about three seconds later.

"Edward, despite having a slight burn, your penis seems to be functioning absolutely perfectly," I snorted.

"It's not funny," he said, adjusting himself.

"It is very funny," I sniggered.

"Fuck off," he muttered, turning his back on me, no doubt to readjust himself further and more effectively. "Anyway, I need to go now," he said, moving towards the door quickly.

"Didn't you want to say something?" I asked, confused.

"Nope," he said, shaking his head. "I just needed to give you the flowers."

"What? You said you needed to talk to me," I said.

"No I didn't Bella," Edward said, matching my confused expression.

"Yes you fucking did!" I practically screamed.

"No I didn't," he said slowly, and looking guilty as fuck. "I need to go, bye," he said, running off down the stairs and out of the door.

What the fuck was that all about?

* * *

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	20. Chapter 20

**Here it is folks, the next chapter!**

**Quick warning for adult content and language. Also, this is a very, very long chapter, the longest one yet, but a lot happens in it!**

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EPOV

I got into my car, slamming the door and driving away as quickly as I could, fighting the urge to stop and read the folder that I had picked up from the study.

I had decided this morning to go and do the task that I had been putting off for ages; looking through James's things. I knew that James had left on a medical conference, and decided that there was no point waiting for a better opportunity to look for any evidence, so I drove to their house and sat in my car for a while, before deciding to stop being a complete girl and do it.

I managed to convince Bella to sit in the study and talk, something that she seemed very confused about, not that I can blame her. Then the minute she made it upstairs, I had sent her back down to get me some coffee, acting like a cocky bastard.

The minute she turned around, my eyes were drawn to her delectable ass, looking all cute and perfect, but as soon as she was out of sight, I got down to business.

I guessed that I had about fifteen minutes maximum, judging by the amount of time it took her just to make it upstairs. I jumped up out of my seat and began browsing the shelves that held loads of folders, all neatly labelled and colour co-ordinated. I smirked at how feminine an organised everything was, how feminine and organised _James_ was.

I read the names of the folders quickly, trying to find something that sounded a bit crooked, with no luck. I moved onto the second shelf, slightly higher than the first shelf, and craned my neck, trying to read the tiny writing.

I climbed up onto the desk so that I could see better, having to bend over slightly so that I wouldn't hit my head on the ceiling. I walked cautiously across the desk, and suddenly slipped on a piece of paper, falling and hitting the wooden floor below, with a huge crash.

I froze, hoping that Bella hadn't heard; I sat, silent, for a few minutes, expecting her to call and ask what had happened, but she didn't.

I exhaled, and got up from the floor, my back killing me, and climbed back on the desk, reading through the folders.

I could hear noises from the kitchen now, and started to work faster, hoping that she wouldn't come upstairs for a few more minutes.

I saw a yellow folder called "Finances", and decided to pick it up. Right next to it was a thick folder called "Happy Luvin'", and I picked that up too.

The noises in the kitchen had stopped by now, and I started to panic, as I realised that I had no way of slipping these out of the house without Bella noticing

I looked around the room desperately, trying to find some way of smuggling them out, but there was nothing that I could see that would be helpful.

I could hear Bella's crutches by now, she was getting closer.

I thought hard and fast, trying to find a way to take the folders, and spotted the open window. I ran over and dropped them out it in the hedges below, hearing the hedges crackle as the folders hit them.

I quickly sat back on my seat, exactly where I had been before, as Bella walked in, holding a bottle of coffee.

"Here you go," she said, waving it at me, before tripping over. I reached out to catch her, successfully doing so, as well as getting the contents of the hot coffee spilt on my crotch. Nice.

It wasn't all bad though; I mean, Bella did sort it out for me, until I got a boner from it.

I made my excuses quickly and left as fast as humanly possible, feeling awful for lying to her about why I had come, but I had to do it.

My crotch felt like it was on fire as I ran round the house and retrieved the folders from the hedge, getting multiple cuts and scratches up my arms as I did so, and then ran to my car and ended up where I was now; driving home quickly, my back hurting like hell, my arms raw and bloody and my crotch burning painfully.

I parked the car and ran up to my apartment, ignoring the pain that seemed to be covering my body, and slammed my front door shut behind me.

I decided first to take a cool shower, hoping that this would ease some of the pain in my crotch and clean the wounds in my arms, and dressed in comfortably sweat pants and a half –sleeved t-shirt. I then took a few painkillers for my back, ordered a Chinese, slid my glasses on, and made myself comfortable on the couch, with the folders resting on my lap.

I opened up "Finances" first, and flipped through it. It was full of bank statements, one for every month for the last five years.

There were no interesting payments in there, except for regular monthly payments to someone named "I. SWAN" in Forks, Washington.

I flicked through, finding nothing interesting, and decided to look in the other folder, which again was full of statements for some company called Happy Luvin', the name on the folder.

There were rent payments, salaries, equipment costs, but nothing that looked suspicious at all. It just looked like a regular little company, except for the name of it, and I made a mental note to look the company up.

The statements were addressed to "J & T Denali". The J was obviously referring to James, but I wondered who the T was.

Just then, the door rang and I got up to collect my chicken noodles, wolfing them down whilst going through every statement, trying to find something out of place, something suspicious.

I couldn't find anything strange, but decided to ring Rosalie anyway and see what I should do next.

"Hey Rose, I went to the bastards house today," I said as soon as she answered.

"Hi Edward, find anything?"

"Just his bank statements and some stuff for some company, Happy Luvin'," I answered.

The line had gone silent.

"Happy Luvin'? Is the luvin' spelt weird? No letter g on the end?" she asked urgently.

"Yeah, why?" I was confused. Why was this important? "Have you heard of it?"

"Edward, that's a prostitution company," Rosalie said quietly. "That alone could get James convicted."

"But surely if you've heard of the company, it can't be a secret organisation, so why hasn't James been convicted before?" I asked, confused.

"Happy Luvin' isn't very public, not many people have heard of it at all. Happy Luvin' is a popular bar with exotic dancers, meaning that it's legal. What many people don't know though, is that beneath the bar is a whole other world, where the manager trains up the girls to be good strippers or prostitutes, and where clients are entertained. These girls live on this floor while they are being trained, and then go on to work for the company, which is obviously, very illegal," Rosalie explained. "If James has statements for this company, then he must know about this prostitution thing going on downstairs."

Rosalie's knowledge of the subject surprised me. "If you know about this place, why haven't you had it shut down before?"

"I just never had any solid evidence, this is all stuff that I've heard from other people," she laughed smoothly. "It might not even turn out to be true." I wasn't convinced but I let it slide.

"So what should we do next?" I asked.

"Well next thing is to look through his office tomorrow, see if you can find anything. Is this the week you said he was leaving for that trip?" I had spoken to her a few weeks ago, and had told her that James was going away soon.

"Yep, he left today, which is why I went to the house today. I'll go to the office tomorrow, and do you think that we should check out this bar?" I asked.

There was a long pause. "I think that would be a good idea," she said slowly. "But I don't want to come with you."

"Okay, I'll take Emmett and Jasper," I said. I didn't want to go myself, and I didn't want to force a lady into going; my mother had brought me up to be a gentleman at all times.

"Good. We need to work fast and get everything together while James is gone, so that we can go and speak to Bella before he gets back. Honestly, if you'd listened to me in the first place, we could have had him behind bars by now," she grumbled.

Rosalie had been pestering me that first week we began working to try and get the case together within the week and present the case, but I had convinced her to wait a few weeks until James was out of town, so that we could look through everything more efficiently and without fear of being caught. If we got caught, not only would we be in deep shit, but Bella would as well, so we had had to wait a month before he left to properly begin gathering evidence.

"Well at least he's on the other side of America; there's a very slim chance of him walking in on me while I'm looking through his desk," I reasoned.

"True," Rosalie agreed. "But I think my way was better."

"I don't doubt it," I smiled. "Anyway, I should go."

"Yeah, me too, I've got a date," she said, sounding excited.

"Anyone I know?" I asked.

"Not really, he's here, bye Edward," she said, putting the phone down.

I chuckled, and rang Emmett to tell him about going to this strip club with me but he wasn't answering; the day I actually needed the moron he never answered.

I rang Jasper instead, and explained to him everything that I had found and to tell him that he was coming to a club with me tomorrow night. He seemed reluctant at first, but as soon as he found out that it was for Bella, he was more than happy to help.

The next morning I woke up and went into work as normal, but instead of going into my own office, I used my spare key and let myself into James office, making sure that no one saw me slip in. I locked the door behind me so that I wouldn't be interrupted, and got to work.

I looked through all of the filing cabinets, drawers and shelves, finding nothing of interest; everything was related to the hospital.

I looked through everything on his desk, before trying plan B.

I sat down at the desk, in front of the desktop computer and started it. I knew that it was unlikely James would save important, private things on a computer that anyone could get access to, but it was worth a try.

I had been watching him very carefully last week, especially when he was on the computer, and had caught sight of him typing his password in. I just prayed that he hadn't changed it since then.

I carefully typed in the word "motherfucker69", and felt relief wash over me as the desktop picture came to life. What a fitting password for James.

I pulled the USB stick that I had bought with me and plugged it in, before copying the entire contents of his documents onto it.

While it was all copying, I quickly scanned the room, making sure that everything was exactly where I had found it.

When I was satisfied that everything looked normal, I sat down and waited for the documents to finish copying. I had bought a USB stick last week for this, and had bought the one with the biggest memory that I could find. I had decided to buy three, just in case, which turned out to be a good decision, seeing as the documents took up two and a half of them.

The minute I was done, I shut down the computer and left, locking the door behind me. I walked down the corridor to my office, and sat down at my computer, plugging the first USB in.

I never had any patients in the morning, instead using the time for the masses of paperwork that went with being both a co-owner of a hospital as well as a doctor.

Today however, I used this time to trawl through every folder, sub-folder and document, deleting them as I went along. The first USB had nothing interesting on it; however the second one contained folder entitled 'Tanya'.

Intrigued, I opened it. After all, why would you have a folder with a woman's name, a woman who isn't your wife?

Inside the folder were hundreds of other documents. I opened up a database, curious as to why he would need to make one in this folder, and hit gold.

The database contained lists, lists of names, addresses, contact details, date of births, and other vital information. There were other lists within the lists in the database; the first list was a list of strippers; then a list of prostitutes, and finally a list of clients. He had even put in dates that the strippers and prostitutes joined the club, and dates that the clients had visited, what they had done, who they had done it with and how much they had paid.

The whole thing was one huge logbook of everything that had ever gone on in the club over the last six years. And to top it all off, he had created individual pages for each of the 'employees', complete with a short description of them, and a picture of each of them in a different seductive pose. Hell, a couple of them even had 'example videos'.

If this couldn't get James convicted, I didn't know what would.

I rang Rosalie again and told her about what I had found.

"Great, we have enough evidence already to get the sap arrested," Rosalie said, sounding happy. "We just need to double check that the prostitution company is under the strip bar and you three guys can check that tonight. Then I just want to see if we can find out anything about Bella and her relationship with James, and their marriage, and we're done. I was just making some calls now to find out about Bella. Do you know where she's from?"

"No, I don't think she's mentioned it," I said, trying to remember.

"Okay, I've tried a simple search on some search engines, nothing's coming up. I don't suppose that you know her maiden name?" she asked.

"Sorry," I answered.

"It's cool," she sighed. "I'll find a way. When's the earliest you can come over and drop the evidence off? Can you come over the next few days?"

"I'll come during over after work if you want," I offered. "I want to get everything together as soon as possible."

"Okay, that's fine, you know my address right?"

"I'm sure I have it somewhere, I'll see you later," I said, as we hung up.

I continued to trawl through the files, finding nothing else of use, until I found an encrypted file; this was the only file that I had found that needed an encryption key. An encryption key that I didn't have.

This file had to have something interesting in it if it was encrypted.

I tried various passwords, but without success.

I leaned back in my chair, frustrated. The best stuff was probably in this file, and I couldn't get into it!

I picked up my phone and rang Jasper.

"Hey Jazz, I have a problem," I said, the minute he answered.

"Hello to you too Edward, I'm fine, thanks for asking." Smartass. I could hear the sarcasm in his voice.

"Shut up jackass, I have a file that I need to get into, but it's encrypted and I don't know the password. Do you know what I can do?"

"Sure, but it's really complicated. Where are you?"

"At work. How come you're not working?" I asked, suddenly remembering that Jasper was meant to be at work right now.

"I was ill this morning," he said.

"Which means that you couldn't be bothered to go in again," I said, rolling my eyes.

"Anyway, who are you to question me? Shouldn't you be working instead of chatting to me?" he asked. Smug bastard.

"I do paperwork in the mornings," I said.

"Yeah, because this is paperwork," he sniggered.

"Shut up, can you help or not?"

"Yeah, do you want me to come over to your office? I mean, I don't want to disturb you and the paperwork," he said.

"Yeah, come over quickly," I said, frowning at my phone. Man the bill was going to be high this month, with the amount of calls I was having to make to the guys and Rosalie alone.

Half an hour later, Jasper walked into my office and straight over to the computer. The guy was a genius at anything related to technology.

"Move, I need to sit down," he commanded. "This is very complicated; it's going to take a while."

"Thanks Jasper man, I really appreciate it," I said, getting up from the chair.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever, go and get me a coffee," he said, pulling the keyboard towards him and starting to type something.

I huffed, and went to get his coffee from the nearest nurse's station. I took my time getting it; after all, he had said it was going to take a while. I spent a while making small talk with the nurses and looking out of the windows, drinking a coffee myself.

Twenty minutes later, I decided to make his coffee and head back. I walked back to my office, and Jasper was just where I had left him, however, as I came closer, I saw that Jasper wasn't decoding anything, but was playing on Pac-Man.

"About fricking time," Jasper grumbled, taking the coffee from me.

"Ermm...Jasper? I asked you to get into the file, not play around," I said, annoyed.

"Shut up Eddie, its open and waiting for you to read it," Jasper said, rolling his eyes.

"But you said it would take ages," I said, by now confused.

"Nah, that shit takes two minutes, I just really wanted some coffee," he smirked.

Great.

"Okay, well move, so that I can see the file," I said.

"What is it anyway?" Jasper asked, sipping from his damn coffee.

"Just something I found on James's computer," I said, opening up the file. "I just thought that seeing as it was the only encrypted file, it must contain something interesting."

"Whoa, seems as though you were right," Jasper said.

Hundreds of videos and pictures of naked women had come up, with a separate folder entitled 'Me'.

"Why? It's just porn," I said.

"Go into that folder," he said, and so I opened it up. Inside, we lots more videos, this time containing James, however, he appeared to be outside.

"Watch one," Jasper said quietly.

"What? No!" I said.

"Just watch it. Why would he be standing outside in a porno? I have a bad feeling about this," Jasper muttered.

I played a random video.

James was fully clothed and walking down a dark alleyway, apparently drunk from the way he was staggering around. Someone was walking beside him and filming him, a male from the sound of the voice.

A young girl was walking in the opposite direction; she was dressed in a tiny dress and high heels, and also looked drunk. She was walking alone, and looking cold, wrapping her arms around herself.

As James walked past her, he suddenly turned and pinned her against the wall, placing a palm over her mouth.

"You look sexy, where've you been?" he asked.

The poor girl looked terrified and on the verge of tears; she must have only been seventeen at the most.

"I'm going to remove my hand in a minute," he said. "Scream at me and my friend here will kill you. Keep quiet and co-operate, and nobody gets hurt. Understand?"

The girl nodded.

"Good. What's your name?"

"Cathy Green," she said quietly, her voice quivering.

"How old are you Cathy?"

"Sixteen."

"Good, I can see that you're co-operating nicely, just as I asked. Let me ask you Cathy, are you a virgin? Be honest, we're all friends here."

"No," she said, looking more and more frightened.

"Good," James said, a smile lighting up his face. "If you had been a virgin, then we would have had a problem, in that I have nothing to clean up the blood with."

With that, he slammed his mouth against hers, and began to kiss her fiercely, groping at her and forcing her legs open with his hand. She whimpered against him and tried pushing against his chest, biting, scratching, pulling his hair, but nothing was working.

Tears were streaming down her face, as he pulled her dress up around her hips and pushed her underwear aside, before using his free hand to pull his own jeans down.

Not wanting to see the rest, I closed the video, and me and Jasper sat in silence.

I opened up another video, and another, and another, and realised that they were all the same; of James walking along, before casually stopping to rape a young girl.

"Shit," Jasper said from behind me.

"As if abusing your wife and owning a prostitution company isn't bad enough," I muttered, absolutely furious.

"Wow, we sure are learning a lot about this fucker," Jasper said, sounding just as angry as me.

"Sure are," I said grimly. "This guy is weirder than we thought, more dangerous."

"Definitely," Jasper agreed. "Do you reckon Bella knew all of this?"

"I don't know, but I don't think it would have made much difference," I replied.

"Even so, we should probably get her away from him quickly, who knows what he's been doing to her," Jasper said. I myself had been thinking that since the first video.

The rest of the file was full of this kind of stuff, as well as a database similar to the first one I had found, only more detailed, with customer transaction details, and what appeared to be contact details and the present situation of every girl who had ever been employed by the company, even including the names of their spouses.

"Now what?" Jasper asked.

"Now we check out the club," I said.

I decided to go and see Rosalie tomorrow, and to check out the club tonight, wanting to get everything done as soon as possible, and so that evening, we pulled up outside the club, dressed in smart black suits and sprayed with loads of cologne, trying to give a sexy impression and make ourselves noticed as high profile customers straight away.

It seemed to have worked; the minute we walked in, the waitresses were all over us, shoving drinks at us and offering us 'the best lap dances of our lives'.

They we giving us seductive looks, and kept coming over to us and running their hands up and down our chests; as far as I could see, no one else was getting this treatment.

We happily drank the drinks thrown our way, and flirted with the waitresses, whispering quietly to them and making them blush.

When we were alone for a few minutes, Emmett and Jasper asked me when we could get the hell out of here.

"As soon as we can get downstairs and see for ourselves if they keep prostitutes down there," I said.

"We?" Emmett asked. "I can't go down there!"

"Why?" I asked.

"Listen Eddie boy. Me and Jasper can't be seen having sex with random girls- what if our women found out?"

Me and Jasper both looked at him.

"First of all," I began, "Who said anything about having sex with them? Second of all, you haven't got a woman."

"Yes I have," Emmett said, smugly.

"Who?" we asked.

"Wouldn't you like to know," Emmett smirked. "So if we aren't having sex with them, what are we doing?"

"Pretending to have sex with them, but actually talking to them and recording the conversations on our phones," I said.

"But why do all three of us need to do that?" Jasper said. "Why don't you just go down and do that, and we'll stay up here, I mean we'll all have to pay to spend time with the women, and we're going to hear the same thing off all of them."

"That's true," I said, thinking. "Okay fine, I'll just go down, but you guys have to stay up here in the bar, and we'll all leave together."

"You got it," Emmett said.

Just then, our waitress came back, brushing up against me as she laid my drink down. I leaned into her slightly, resting my chin on her shoulder.

"I was wondering," I breathed, making her shiver. "I've heard that here, you can pay a rather attractive young lady to have amazing sex with you. Is that true?"

The waitress gulped. "Yes sir, but I should warn you, it's a very expensive place."

"Money is no problem, but I need a really good, hard fucking tonight. What do I need to do in order to receive that service?"

"You'll have to sign a privacy agreement to say that you won't tell anyone about the services we offer, and I'll take you down and find you someone."

"Excellent," I said.

"Follow me sir," she said, and I got up to follow her.

"Have fun Dominic," Emmett and Jasper cheered. "Our virgin friend is finally getting laid!"

We had decided to create fake names for ourselves, so if we had to sign anything, they wouldn't be able to track us again. So for the evening I had become Dominic Smithson.

I followed the waitress through a door and down a corridor and some stairs. We reached what looked like a receptionist's desk, where I was asked to sign a privacy agreement, and then the waitress led me through some more corridors and stairs.

"It's like a maze down here," I commented.

She led me through a final door, and we were in a large room with a massive bed in the centre of it, and millions of candles on shelves around the room. The bed was covered with black silk sheets and pillows, with a red silk throw on top, matching the red cushions dotted around the floor. There was a small couch to one side, and the carpet was thick and luxurious, the type of carpet that seemed to swallow you up, it was so thick.

"Have a seat," the waitress said, and began to light the candles around the room. "Do you have any specific requirements?" she asked, as I sat down on the bed.

"No brunettes," I said instantly. That would be too much like another brunette beauty that I knew.

"Okay, I'll get you someone, she'll be along shortly," the waitress said as she left, shutting the door behind her.

I looked around the room, scanning carefully for any security cameras. I couldn't see any, but I couldn't be sure. I got my phone out, and took some photos of the room, making it look like I was texting someone; I was trying to be careful just in case there were security cameras that I just hadn't seen. I turned the voice recording app on, and waited.

Soon after, there was a light tapping on the door.

"Come in," I said, feeling suddenly nervous.

A small blonde girl walked in, her golden hair in wild curls across her shoulders, and dressed in nothing but a black lacy bra and panties.

She walked in and shut the door behind her, strutting towards me.

She walked right up to me and pushed me gently so that I was on my back, and she was on top of me. She began to kiss along my jaw, grinding against me.

I quickly turned her over, and nuzzled my face in her neck. "Are there cameras in here?" I whispered.

"Yes," she whispered back, before moaning.

"Okay, well I'm not actually here for sex, I need to talk to you privately," I whispered, moving my face up next to her ear.

She moaned again. "Why do you keep doing that?" I asked, confused. "I'm not doing anything to you."

She didn't answer. "Why do you need to talk to me?"

"I'm trying to investigate this place," I said.

"Okay, well pretend for a few minutes and then we'll get under the covers," she said.

"Okay," I said.

"You have to be convincing though, moan," she said, so I did.

She started to push my jacket off, and I took it off and threw it to one side, and we started grinding against each other, groping each other and moaning loudly.

I suddenly stood up and picked her up, bridal style, and pushed the covers to one side, getting us under them.

She moved to lie on top of me, and continued moving around.

"What are you doing?" I asked.

"I'm new here; I've only been here a few months, so the manager here watched back the footage of how I did. If she doesn't like how I treated my client, I get punished. So I have to pretend to be fucking you, and you have to pretend to enjoy it."

"Is that what happens to everyone here?" I asked.

"Yep, we have to have certain training while we're here, and then we work on a contract and stay here and work for the company. Either working inside, like this, or getting sent out on jobs, like bachelor parties."

"How old are you?" I asked.

"Twenty two," she said. "I'm Jill by the way."

"Dominic," I replied. "Why did you decide to do this?"

"Needed money to pay for college," she said, before moaning loudly. I joined her, letting out a few expletives as I did so.

"Couldn't you have gotten another job?"

"This paid better," she said. "My dad stole my entire college fund that my grandma left me and used it on drugs. I needed the money quickly, and this was the only way at the time. Why are you investigating this place anyway?"

"Just because," I said, nonchalantly. "Something seemed fishy. Plus I've heard about the treatment of the girls here."

"Yeah, it's awful. We're made to walk around in nothing but our underwear all the time, and the staff is disgusting. A few years ago, a girl apparently got raped by a security guard, and was forced to go down on the manager."

I suddenly felt sick. "Do you know who she was?"

"Nope, sorry."

"Listen Jill, I'm trying to bring this place down, and I need evidence. Would you mind if you acted as a witness if this ever got to court, or if I used quotes from this conversation?"

"Not really," she said. Just as well, seeing as I was recording it without her knowledge.

"Good, otherwise, this appointment is pointless," I said. "How long has this place been open?"

"Just over ten years."

"Both the strip bar and this bit?"

"Yep, both of them opened at the same time, but very few people know about this bit of the club. It's not exactly legal, and we are warned to keep quiet about it."

"How many girls are there?" I asked.

"About seventy I think, but there's always people leaving and new people coming. We sign a contract as to how long we want to stay for. If we're good in that time, then we can leave. If not, girls are blackmailed to stay on as prostitutes, and then as staff when they get too old."

"Do you know who owns this place?" I asked.

"Tanya Denali and her brother, I don't know his name, but I know he's married," she said. "I don't know if his wife knows about this place."

Those last two sentences alone were enough to send James to jail. I didn't like the sound of this Tanya either.

"They formed a partnership and opened this place up. Bastards," she muttered.

"How long are typical contracts for?" I asked.

"The minimum is eighteen months," she said.

"How much do you get paid?"

"Between $2,000 and $5,000 dollars per client, depending on how long we were with them and how happy they were. That's just the average, sometimes we can be paid even more than that."

"How are girls here treated, generally speaking?"

"We're not allowed to wear proper clothes, as I said, we have no privacy and the staff don't talk to us with any respect and treat us however they want," she spat out. "Tanya thinks that we should be taught to lose our inhibitions and have no shame, so we have no dignity at all. We're subjected to painful beauty treatments, Tanya and her brother force the girls to perform sexual acts, and girls have been known to be raped by staff, as I also said."

"Wow," I said. "Don't worry Jill; I'm going to have this place shut down."

"I wish I'd never joined," she said bitterly, "as does every other girl in this shit hole. Before we joined, none of us thought that the job would be this bad. A lot of us come from poor backgrounds, and have a genuine reason for being here. Others are just here to fuel drug habits, but all of us had no other choice but to come here. There are girls whose parents died and have to support younger siblings, girls whose boyfriends landed them in shitloads of debt, and girls who need medical support for a family member. Most of us are here for a proper reason, and even though we came out of choice, we don't deserve to be treated like animals. This is a last resort for everyone, no one would willingly choose to do this as their first choice." Tears started to fall down her face, and my heart broke for her.

I pulled her against me and hugged her fiercely.

"Don't worry Jill, in a few weeks, hopefully this place will be shut. I'll do it for you, I promise, and afterwards, I'll pay for your college myself," I said.

She blushed. "No, I couldn't let you do that," she mumbled.

"Well you'd pay me back obviously," I said quickly, not wanting her to feel as if I was giving her charity. "What are you doing at college anyway?"

She smiled against my chest. "I'm doing medicine. Thanks Dominic. You're a good guy," she said.

"Anytime Doctor Jill," I teased. "So, would you act as a witness?"

"Happily," she said. "I trust you."

I looked at my watch and found that I had been here for forty-five minutes.

"Jill?"

"Yeah?"

"We've been under the covers for almost an hour, and we're still fully clothed," I said.

"Shit," she said. "We haven't moved or moaned in a while either."

"What are you going to say?" I said, suddenly worried that I'd gotten her into trouble.

"I'll say that you were so drunk that you passed out," she said confidently.

"Okay," I agreed. "I'll pretend to wake up now if that's okay. I need to get home, and I'm sure that you'd like to go to bed as well. What's your surname?"

"Edwards," she said. Oh, the irony.

"Okay Jill Edwards, you should be hearing from me soon," I said, before starting to move around. I stretched my arms out, and pulled the covers off the top part of my body. I rubbed my hands over my face, as if I'd just woken up, and looked around the room, trying to look confused.

Jill was still lying on top of me, playing with my hair.

"Shit, what happened?" I said, making my voice lower than usual.

"We were just getting to the good stuff, and you fell asleep. Naughty," Jill tutted. "I'm going to have to punish you for that."

"Oh shit, I fell asleep? I'm sorry, I should be going, I have to get home to my wife," I said, winking at Jill and jumping up.

Jill lay across the bed, her legs splayed open towards me. "Are you sure that I can't tempt you to stay?" she pouted.

I pulled my jacket back on and walked towards her, grabbing her head in my hands, and pretending to kiss her neck. "Good luck, take care of yourself," I whispered.

"You too," she said, in between moans.

"Maybe next time sexy," I said huskily. "I'll ask for you."

"I'll be waiting," she purred, as I left the room. Shit, I knew I should have been an actor.

I found my way back to the reception, and paid the woman $3,000. This place was fucking expensive. I decided to give an extra $1,000 hoping that it would make Jill happy.

The girl at reception called a waitress over to lead me back upstairs.

The minute I was back at the bar, I rushed over to the guys.

Jasper saw me coming, and whispered something to Emmett and they both stood up.

"Where are you going?" A nearby waitress asked Jasper, and I heard him ask her for the bill.

"Well? Anything good?" Emmett asked as soon as I was close enough.

"Excellent, we've got more than enough evidence, plus one willing witness," I said quietly, trying not to be overheard.

"We'll just pay the bill, and then get out of here," Jasper said, as the waitress came back holding the bill.

"If you just give this to the main desk, you need to pay there," she explained, handing Jasper the bill.

"Thanks," we all said.

"No problem, come back soon," she winked.

"Jasper, I'll pay," I said.

"Don't be stupid," he said. "We were the ones drinking, plus, you must have paid for the time with the girl."

"Yeah, but it's my fault you had to come in the first place," I argued.

"Bro, shut up," Emmett said. "Us two will take care of it, so shut up and sulk."

"Thanks guys," I said, as they paid, leaving a rather large tip for our waitresses.

We piled into my Volvo and drove back to my apartment. It was gone midnight now, and we all had work in the morning, but the guys wanted to hear the recording, so I had said that they could crash at my place. They had brought the stuff that they needed for work the next day with them and left it in the car, so that we could go straight to mine, after grabbing a pizza or something.

The minute we got in the apartment, they demanded that I played the recording to them, and so we sat down in the living room and listened to it over pizza and beer.

We talked for a while about them, and the guys gave me advice, before Jasper crashed on the couch and Emmett went to sleep in the guest bedroom.

I lay awake, unable to sleep. I was going to take everything to Rosalie tomorrow, and I had decided to speak to Bella in the afternoon as well.

For once, I actually welcomed the shrill sound of the alarm clock, and jumped out of bed eagerly, taking a quick shower, getting dressed and running out of my apartment. Jasper and Emmett had already left a while ago, so I locked the door and drove to Rosalie's office, only to be told when I got there, that she wouldn't be starting work for another hour yet. Great.

I sat and waited in the waiting room, impatiently alternating between sitting, pacing and going to get coffee, before Rosalie eventually burst in.

"I'm so sorry," she said. "I forgot to tell you that I was starting late this morning, I only realised when my receptionist told me you were here."

"Don't worry about it," I said, following her to her office. "I brought everything that I've got together."

"Good, take a seat," she said, taking everything off of me.

I spent the next hour channel surfing on Rosalie's huge TV, as she poured over everything.

"Edward, did you sleep at all last night?" she asked casually.

"A bit," I lied.

"Why don't you go to sleep, you look exhausted," she said. "Just go to sleep on the couch."

"Nah, I'm fine," I said. "Besides, I have to leave for work in...ten minutes ago, shit!" I said, jumping up from the couch.

"Relax Edward," Rosalie said. "A few minutes won't make a difference. I haven't got any clients today, so I'll put together the case. Come back here when you finish work."

"Okay, I finish at about five today, I'm only doing half a day."

"Great, see you then," Rosalie called, as I dashed out of the office and into my car.

I looked at the clock as I reversed out of the parking lot. I had decided to take my morning off, phoning in ill, but I had made an unexpected recovery since then and could now go to work.

It was 12.37, my usual lunch break, and I felt hungry, so I stopped at a drive-thru McDonalds. Hell, if I was going to be late anyway, I might as well do it properly.

I was half way through my Big Mac, when my phone rang.

"Hello?" I said, through a mouthful of burger and fries.

"Hi Edward," Lauren's nasal voice said.

A few weeks ago, I had decided to phone that number at the bottom of her note, just a few days before Bella had broken her foot.

I had initially phoned to talk to her about the baby, and if she was sure it was mine, but Lauren insisted that this conversation should be had in person, and so we had met up for lunch. She was dressed in a tight sweater dress, which flaunted her small baby bump.

By then, Lauren was almost four months pregnant, and there was no doubt that she was when we had met up.

Since then, we spoke every few days, however, I didn't trust that it was my baby, and so I had demanded that she have a paternity test the minute the baby was born, but she insisted that the baby was mine, and that she wanted a paternity test as soon as possible. She had booked herself in for an amniocentesis at eighteen weeks of pregnancy, the earliest that it was recommended to be carried out. She had gone in for it last week; I had offered to go with her, but she vehemently refused for me to go with her.

"You remember that the results for the amniocentesis are in this afternoon?" Lauren asked. "You said that you wanted to come with me to get them."

_Shit. _I had completely forgotten.

"Of course I remember Lauren," I lied. "What time do we need to be there?"

"The results will be there at about three," she said.

"Okay, well I'll pick up at about two thirty," I said.

"Edward, I really wanted to talk to you, can you meet me somewhere?"

"Now?" I asked.

"It's important," she said. "Please?"

"Okay, where abouts?" I asked.

She told me to meet her at a coffee shop, and I sped off towards it, wondering what Lauren could possibly want to talk to me about, all thoughts of going into work gone.

I parked the car opposite the shop, and jogged in. I spotted Lauren sitting next to the window and went to sit next to her.

"Hey," I said, sitting down. "Shall I get you something to drink?"

"Could you get me some orange juice please?" she asked, not looking at me.

"Sure," I said, getting up to get myself a coffee and her some orange juice.

I sat back down and waited for her to start talking. She was looking out of the window and picking at her sleeves absentmindedly.

"So, nineteen weeks pregnant, huh? Almost half way through!" I said, trying to break the awkward silence, but instead making it more awkward.

"I don't know how to tell you this," she said, finally turning to face me. "So I'm just going to come out with it."

"Shoot," I said, taking a sip of my coffee.

"I don't want the baby," she said, as I began to choke on my coffee. I swear the coffee gods hated me that month.

"What?" I said.

"Edward, I never wanted children, ever since I was little. I've never wanted them, and when I found out I was pregnant, I couldn't have an abortion done and kill the child, so I kept it, thinking that maybe my feelings would change and I would grow to love the baby, but I've realised that I still don't want children, and I doubt that I ever will. I'm just not a maternal sort of person. I want to go back to college, build up a career, drink, party, socialise, and I can't do that with a child at home."

"But what about the child?" I asked. "You can't terminate the pregnancy; I won't let you kill an innocent child like that."

"I know, and I would never abort a child. If the child is yours, which I know it is, then it is your decision to make. Personally, I want to put it up for adoption, but if it's yours, then it's your choice, you can put it up for adoption, put the child in care, whatever you want to do."

"What if I wanted to keep it?" I said automatically, not even thinking about what I was saying.

Lauren looked shocked. "You would want to? I just assumed that you don't have time for a child."

"If it's my child, then I should take responsibility for it," I said firmly, again, speaking automatically.

"Then that's your choice. I'm going to sign to say that I have nothing to do with the child after birth anyway."

"Okay," I said. My earlier statements had just come out naturally, and the gravity of the situation had just hit me. In just an hour, I could be a father.

We sat in an awkward silence for the rest of the time, before deciding to drive to the hospital and get the results.

As I was driving, I started to picture having a young child around the house; a little boy with my bronze hair dashing around the apartment, playing in the park with me, running around on a football pitch, and found that the idea didn't scare me as much as I thought it would, and even found myself hoping slightly that it was mine.

I had always known that I wanted to marry a beautiful woman one day and have a houseful of kids with her, it's not as though I had never considered having kids. So I was doing it a little backwards, having the kid first and then getting married to someone, but so what?

I had always wanted kids, so what if I started on that dream slightly earlier than planned?

Before I knew it, I was pulling into the parking lot of the hospital. I walked in a daze into the hospital, and heard Lauren give her name at reception. I felt as though I was in a dream as I made my way over to the waiting room and sat down, feeling slightly out of reality, as if this was all happening to someone else, and I was simply watching.

After what seemed like mere seconds, Lauren was whispering to me to get up, and I followed her into a small office, where we were invited to sit down at the desk by a doctor.

"Well, the results of the amniocentesis have come back. First of all, your child is completely fine, there are no abnormalities in the pregnancy, your baby is absolutely normal and healthy at this stage in the pregnancy, and there is no reason why that should change between now and the birth. Onto the paternity of the child, which I am sure is the main reason you are here." He paused and turned to look at me. "Are you Edward Anthony Cullen?"

"Yes," I said.

"Congratulations, you're going to be a father," he said, and I felt my face break into a huge grin, one which stayed on my face as we sat through the rest of the appointment and as I drove Lauren home.

I was going to be a father!

I couldn't contain my excitement as I drove to my apartment, deciding not to go to work anymore; after all there was no point.

As soon as I got home, I tried to ring both Jasper and Emmett, but neither were answering. I tried Alice as well, but apparently everybody was busy, so I instead went on Facebook, and changed my status to "I'm going to be a daddy!"

I grabbed a bite to eat, before leaving to go back to Rosalie's office.

I ran into the building the minute I had finished parking and ran straight to her office.

"I'm going to be a dad!" I yelled happily the minute I got in.

Rosalie screamed, before jumping into my arms. I twirled her around, both of us really excited.

"It's definitely yours?" she asked.

"Yep," I beamed.

"Congratulations honey!" she said, kissing my cheek.

"Thanks," I said. We sat talking about babies for a while, and I explained how Lauren didn't want anything to do with it anymore.

"Oh well, who cares? I'll help you out instead of the skank," Rosalie said.

Soon after, I remembered the real reason why I was there, and Rosalie explained what she had put together.

"We should go see Bella soon then," I said.

"We?" Rosalie said.

"Well yeah, you'll have to come with me to convince her obviously. You women seem to have a weird language of your own."

"Okay," Rosalie said. "When do you want to do it?"

"Why don't we just go now? Her shop is usually shut by now" I said.

"Now?"

"Yeah, have you got anything else you need to do?" I asked.

"No, I'm free now, I just wasn't expecting you to say so soon."

"Let's just get this shit over with," I said, which is why, twenty minutes later, we were both stood on Bella's doorstep.

I felt nervous, like, shitting myself nervous.

"You know what?" I said to Rosalie. "Let's just send her a text or something, come on..."

I trailed off as I heard the front door open, and two gasps.

Rosalie and Bella were both staring at each other weirdly.

"Bella? Is that really you?" Rosalie asked, at the same time Bella asked her "What are you doing here?"

"You two know each other?" I asked, confused.

"Yes," the said at the same time.

"How?" I asked. This was weird.

"Nothing, just Bella and I used to work together when we were younger at a grocery store," Rosalie said quickly, giving Bella a weird look.

"Yeah, we used to work at the checkouts when we were in high school," Bella added, looking at Rosalie carefully. "Come in," she said, and we followed her into the living room.

"How can I help you?" she said once we were all comfortably seated.

"Well basically, we have been investigating into James and his background," I started. "And we found out that he owns a prostitution company, which isn't totally legal. We've looked into it, and we've got more than enough evidence against him on numerous charges to convict him for a very long time."

Rosalie continued to explain in a lot more detail to exact charges we had against him, and how long he could be in jail for, as well as explaining how Bella would get off completely free without even a blemish on her record.

"You went through our things?" she screeched. "That day when you wanted coffee?"

"Is that all that you can think of right now?" I said, rolling my eyes. "We've just told you all of this, and all you're worried about is your husband's office?

She sat quietly, deep in thought for a few minutes.

"Bella, I think that you should do it," I said, and Rosalie agreed with me.

"Bella, the bastard has controlled you for far too long, and it's not just you, it's hundreds of other girls. Unless you do something, all of these girls are going to continue to suffer. You're the only one with a solid case," Rosalie said. "You're only young; you need to live for yourself. We're not going to do anything unless you want us to; if you want, we'll take this to court, alternatively, if you want, we'll just put it away and never mention it again. It's completely your call."

"Bella please, just think it through carefully, it's a logical plan, and you need to do it. You know that it makes sense, and you know that it needs to be done. I'm begging you, please, before he does something worse," I pleaded. "Also, this time, it has to be a final decision, because the minute you tell us what to do, we're going to take immediate action. There'll be no turning back this time."

"I think that I need to see all of the evidence before I decide properly," Bella said, and Rosalie and I spent the next two hours going through every single thing that we had found.

Bella looked horrified, especially at the videos of him raping the young girls, something which she obviously didn't know about.

"I had no idea he was this insane," she said, speechless. "I knew he was stupid, but not dangerous..." she trailed off.

"Bella," I said gently. "What do you think? What do you want to do?"

Bella thought for a minute, before slowly saying "I think that..."

* * *

**So what did you think? What was your favourite part? What's she going to do? ****Drop me a review and let me know what you think!**

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	21. Chapter 21

**Here it is folks, the next chapter!**

**WARNING: Contains adult content, abuse and language.**

**Thank you as always to all of my readers, reviewers and people who are adding me to alerts, favourites etc. **

**Also, I am going to start putting a rough update date on my profile page from now on to gove you a rough idea as to when the next chapter will be ready to post, so keep checking on there for a rough date for the next chapter, I'll put it at the top of my profile page so that it is the first thing you see, this way I won't keep you all agitatedly waiting for the next chapter and wondering when it will be up :P Hope this is helpful for you, please let me know what you think of this idea. **

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******Disclaimer: Stephanie Meyer owns the characters, this plot is mine though!**

******Enough talking by me, let's get on with it!**

******Enjoy!**

* * *

**BPOV**

I stared at Edward's and Rosalie's expectant faces, thinking hard.

"I don't know," I eventually sighed.

Edward ran his hands through his hair, frustration obvious in his face.

"Bella, think about it," Rosalie started.

"I am thinking about it," I said, cutting her off. "But I've only got a few months of the contract left, and then I'm free to go. After that, you're free to do whatever you like about any of his other...activities, just as long as I'm not involved."

"But Bella, the guy's dangerous!" Edward burst. "Did you not hear the part about him raping the girls, or do you want to sit down and watch the videos again over popcorn and nachos?"

"Piss off Edward," I muttered. "You don't understand."

"Well then help me to," he snapped. "You're right I don't understand, I don't understand why you won't leave the fucker already!"

"No!" I said. "I'm not just going to leave because I've got my money. That goes against everything I believe in, and I won't use another person like that. Besides, by the time this whole case gets started, the contract will be over anyway."

"Yes, but this isn't just about you anymore Bella!" Edward was getting more and more frustrated by the second. "Who's to say that he'll never rape anyone again? Or treat someone else like he treated you? Hell, what if he did something to you?"

"He won't," I said, sounding surer than I felt.

"How do you know?"

"I just do, okay? Just get off my case," I said.

Rosalie, who had been sitting quietly this whole time, began to speak.

"With one phone call, I can have him hand-cuffed and sat in a helicopter back to New York. The flight is just under four hours, in five hours, we could have him in police custody and a trial scheduled for some point in the next three days."

"I'm not bothered about the time," I said, exasperated. "It's wrong! I'm not the type of person who uses someone and then just leaves when it suits me! I promised someone to stay with them for a set period of time, and I'm going to stay with James for that amount of time!"

"Oh, so breaking that promise is wrong, but raping innocent sixteen year olds isn't?" Edward asked.

"I thought you said this was my choice?" I asked.

"It is," Edward said. "I just don't want you to regret your decision later when he beats you up so bad that you can't even walk."

I ignored this last comment. "How long would he get in prison?"

"Minimum of around eighteen years provided that he gets the minimum sentence for everything. It could be around twenty seven years or even longer, and that's just his basic offences. Plus, he would get a huge fine and lose the license to the hospital, not to mention a note on his file preventing him from working in any job where he has to interact with people," Rosalie answered.

"So basically any job?" I asked.

"Yep," Rosalie said, popping the 'p'.

"Rosalie, can you come with me to the kitchen please? I'll get us some drinks," I said, getting up. I still had a small cast on my foot, but luckily I could walk around without the crutches as long as I was staying on one floor of the house and not planning on walking further than about ten metres.

"We're fine," she said hastily.

"No you're not, come on," I said, pulling her up and limping to the kitchen.

Edward looked confused as we walked into the kitchen.

I motioned to Rosalie to shut the kitchen door behind us. The minute it was shut, I rounded on her. "What the hell are you doing here?"

"Well I wasn't going to stay there my whole life was I," she said icily. "I finished law school, and so I left. I always said that was how long I was going to stay."

"But why are you practising as a lawyer in New York? You were always popular with the clients, what if someone recognised you? It could ruin your whole career!" I said.

"Don't you think I know that?" she said sharply. "One dodgy client, and my whole life could come crashing down, a scandal that big would ruin my whole life, but I've got no choice. I've built up my reputation here, I don't want to leave."

"You have no choice?" I scoffed. "Build up a reputation somewhere else!"

"I would have been happy to a few weeks ago," she admitted. "But now I can't."

"Why? What could possibly have changed in just a few weeks?"

"I met someone," she said quietly. "His job is here, and he wouldn't leave his job, and I don't want him to. He's happy at his job, I'm happy at mine. Obviously if we break up or something, it's different, and I would leave, but I don't think that will happen."

We stood in silence for a few minutes.

"Is he good to you Rosie?" I asked.

"He's the best," she grinned.

"Does he know? About your past?"

Her small smile immediately vanished. "No. I want to tell him, I just don't know how."

"Just come out with it, 'hey, by the way, I used to be a prostitute', if nothing else, you'll get a few laughs out of his expressions," I said. "It really makes life difficult, even after you've left, doesn't it?"

"Sure does," Rosalie murmured. "By the way, I have never told anyone about it so..."

"I won't say anything. When did you leave anyway?" I asked.

"About two and a bit years ago. I've been qualified just under two years, and a left a few months before I graduated," she said. "When you said you were getting married, I had no idea that it was to _him. _What were you thinking?"

"I needed the money," I shrugged. "I didn't know back then that he was a psycho."

A cough from the doorway startled us. I turned around to find Edward staring at us, his arms folded and leaning against the doorframe.

"That's an awfully long time getting a drink," he said, raising an eyebrow. "Where did you guys say that you worked together?"

"The grocery store," I said.

"Really?" he said.

Rosalie and I looked at each other. Rosalie let out a deep sigh. "Looks like we need to talk Edward," she said.

"Looks like we do," he answered, turning and walking back to the living room.

We followed him silently, except for the quiet tapping of my cast, and we all sat back down.

"So," Edward said. "What's going on?"

"Okay, well Bella and I did used to work together, but not at the grocery store. We used to work at Happy Luvin' together. I needed the money to get myself through college, and so I started working there just a few months before Bella," Rosalie said quickly, as though that would make it easier to tell.

"We became friends while on my last night there. Obviously I left there the next day to live with James, but we spent hours talking and became friends," I explained.

"Any reason why you couldn't have told me sooner?" Edward asked Rosalie.

"Well it isn't really something I wanted to make public," Rosalie snapped. "The day I left there I decided to completely leave it behind; since then, I've never spoken about it to anyone, I wanted to make a new life and reputation, and to be well known for my job, not my ability to fuck."

"Yes, but when we got the case started, you couldn't have said something then?" Edward said.

"Edward, shut up," I said. "It was none of your business; she didn't have to tell you anything if she didn't want to."

"Okay, fair enough," he said. "But surely, if you were that close, you would have recognised the name when I first came to you?" he asked Rosalie.

"You came to me with Bella Denali. When Bella left, I knew that she's gone to have a convenience marriage, but I didn't know who to, I certainly didn't think that it was to the co-owner of the club. While we were there, nobody ever knew anybody's surname; we all knew each other by first name only. When you came to me with the name, I just figured that there are loads of people with the name Bella, and what would be the chances of the surname being that of my ex boss? I just put it down to coincidence," Rosalie explained.

"Surely you could act as a witness then, if you worked there?" Edward asked, as though the idea had just crossed his mind.

"No," she answered quickly. "This is probably going to be quite a big case, with lots of people involved. I need to think of my career and my future, and if the fact that I was a prostitute becomes public then it could ruin everything for me. I can't be involved in any of this case."

"Bella has a career," he pointed out.

"What do you do?" she asked me.

"I've just got a small bakery," I said.

"Oh really? Congratulations! You said that you wanted to own some sort of food place!" she enthused.

"Thanks," I said. "James bought me the building and then I just started it up as a small cafe, it doesn't really count."

"Why not?" she asked, confused.

"Well I didn't work hard for it, someone basically gave it to me," I said.

"Shut up, you've put all the work in," Rosalie said.

"Hello!" Edward said. "We still haven't sorted this shit out! You guys can do this at some other point."

"Edward's right," Rosalie said. "Let's get down to business. Remember Bella, whatever you decide now, there's no backing out."

"Look, I don't want to be involved in this," I said. "As I said before, I promised to stay here until October. After then, you guys can convict him of whatever you like, as long as I'm not involved."

Rosalie and Edward's hopeful faces dropped.

"You won't reconsider?" Edward said.

"I'm sorry," I said. "I just want to feel like I earned it, I'm not the type of person who uses someone else for something. This way, I've earned the money through hard work."

"Okay then," Rosalie said. "If you change your mind, let me know. Edward has my number."

"Sure," I said.

Edward shot me a dirty look. "Piss off," I muttered.

"Oh Bella, have you heard Edward's news?" Rosalie asked, as they were getting up to leave.

"I don't think so, what's going on?"

"He's going to be a daddy!" she squealed.

My mouth suddenly went dry as I remembered the circumstances under which I'd found out.

"Congratulations," I said, a fake smile plastered on my lips, as I suddenly remembered that I'd never actually congratulated him properly.

"Thanks," he said, beaming. He looked so happy.

"That's not all; the bitch doesn't want the baby, so he's going to get sole custody!" Rosalie said happily.

"That's great," I said. "I'm really happy for you!"

"Thanks," he said, grinning that beautiful crooked grin, as I leaned up to kiss him on the cheek, smelling in his heavenly scent.

Although I was happy for him, I couldn't help but feel a bit jealous of Edward; he was so happy and had such a perfect life. Even if I left James or when my contract ended, my whole life would be tainted with what I had done in my life.

"I bet you're excited," I said.

"Yeah, I am really excited, I can't wait!" he said. "But I'm also really nervous; I mean what if I screw this kid up?"

"You'll be fine," I said, reassuring him.

"You think?" he asked doubtfully.

"Yeah, you'll be perfect." _Just like you are in every other way. _

"Thanks," he said.

"We should be going," Rosalie said. "Are you absolutely sure that you won't take him to court?"

"Yeah," I sighed. "I'm just going to stick it out for the last few months, I mean, how much worse can it be? After that, you can do whatever you want."

"Okay, then," she said.

Edward's face had lost that glowing look, and was now firmly set in a grimace. He didn't even look at me as he followed Rosalie out.

Once they had both left, I lay down on the couch, feeling exhausted. Exhausted by having to pretend that my marriage was perfect to those who didn't know anything; exhausted by having to pretend that I could handle it to those who did.

I was so tempted to agree to Rosalie and Edward and have James convicted, but to be honest, I was scared; after all, he was going to get out of jail at some point, right?

And what would he do then?

It was much better to finish the contract and then leave, that way at least I wouldn't have the fear of him doing something else to me, like seeking me out once he left prison or whatever.

It was starting to get dark outside, and I was beginning to feel a little nauseous for some reason, so I pulled a blanket towards me and switched on the TV, channel surfing until I found a channel with reruns of Friends on it.

I lazily watched the episode, not really paying attention to it, and I felt my eyes drooping shut. I forced them open, not wanting to sleep yet, and watched the next three episodes. It was half way through the fourth episode, when the phone began to ring.

I groaned, and got up, limping over to the phone.

"Hello?" I said.

"Bella," James' familiarly slimy voice said. "How are you?"

"I'm good thanks, how are you?"

"I'm good," he said. He sounded slightly drunk, which was never good. "You remember Victoria?"

"How could I forget?" I said dryly.

"Well Vic rang me a while ago. Apparently Edward Cullen paid you a little house call," he said.

_Shit. _

"What?" I laughed nervously, my stomach churning.

"Have you been fucking around with him? Tell me the truth!" he shouted. "Did you let him slam his cock into your whore pussy?"

"No!" I said. I could feel myself heating up, and my palms felt sweaty. "He just came over to ask if you'd left him some paperwork to do with the hospital," I lied, thinking quickly.

"Oh really? Vic says he was in there an awfully long time. Are you sure that's what happened Isabella?" he asked.

"I don't care what the fuck _Vic _says!" I shouted, not caring anymore about the consequences. "Why the hell did you get her to watch me in the first place?"

"I didn't, she just happened to be passing by," he said, sounding smug.

"Then how would she know how long he stayed?" I shot back.

"She was driving past on her way to the mall, and saw a car parked on the drive. When she was driving back, a few hours later, the car was still there and Edward Cullen was getting into it."

"How does she know what he looks like?" I said suspiciously.

"He knocked up her ex girlfriend, Lauren, I'm sure by now Victoria recognises him," he snapped.

Wait, _what? _"Lauren's gay?"

"Bisexual," he said. "She's fun."

"As opposed to me I suppose," I said icily.

"She's truly dirty; she'll fuck you anywhere and anyhow. You're a bit safer, a bit less exciting. Bit boring to be honest," he said.

Just what every girl wants to hear, even from her abusive 'husband'.

"I don't even care James," I said. "I have to go."

I slammed down the phone, practically shaking with both fear and anger. Great, now I had people watching me.

I decided to go and get ready for bed, so I shut all of the curtains in the house, locked up and took a shower. I put my wet hair into a messy bun, and sat up in bed, holding the familiar little notebook in my hands.

Despite hating the initial idea of this, I was coming to love writing down my experiences. It made me feel calm, and gave me something to talk to in a way. It was like a secret that I carried around with me, a lucky talisman in a way.

I opened it up, and started from where I'd left off.

_AUGUST 2006_

_I was sat, once again in Tanya's office, facing the formidable woman. _

"_Okay, so I promised you that you could be out of here within five days. Today is Wednesday, so I will have you out of here on Monday morning. Between now and then, we've just got some little bits and pieces to go through. I'm going to book you in with three more clients in that time. All three clients are completely different, and I'm going to set you a different type of sex with each client, for example, with one, you have to have pool sex, one will have a scenario and the other is a house visit. But today, you're going to be getting to know you're husband. His name is James, and he's the co-owner of this place." Tanya said this all very quickly, and I had to take a minute to process what she'd just said._

"_Okay," I managed to say._

"_He's also my brother," she added. "So rest assured, if he's not happy, I will hear about it."_

"_This just gets better and better" I thought. _

"_So go and make yourself look presentable; he has a very high profile job at a hospital, so dress like a respectable young woman. When you go out and about while you're married to him, that's how you need to dress. When at home, dress however he likes. Off you go," she said, motioning to the door. "Be back in three hours, I've booked you in with Jane for an hour to beautify and prepare yourself."_

_I made my way over to the treatment room. Jane was sat on her chair as usual, and I took a quick shower, before allowing her to do her usual routine of waxing, moisturising, and massaging. _

_Once she was done, I went back to my own room, and pulled out a dress that I'd hung up in the small closet. It was a casual summer knee-length dress. It was deep blood red, and pinched in slightly at the waist, before flaring back out. I paired it was some smart black stilettos, and put a thin black belt around my waist, pinching it in even more. _

_I blow dried my hair, and put a slight curl in it with the straighteners, letting it wave over across my shoulders in gentle ripples. I quickly put on some natural make up, before looking in the mirror to see the finished result. _

_To be honest, I was pretty pleased with my appearance. _

_I looked at the clock and realised that I still had another hour to wait, so I pulled a book out of my bag and began to read. _

_I got lost in the realms of fiction, and the next time I looked at the clock, I was surprised to find that I had been reading for almost fifty minutes._

_I got up and looked in the mirror one last time, brushing down my dress and sorting out my hair. When I was satisfied with how I looked, I took a deep breath and walked out of my room towards Tanya's office. _

_I felt suddenly nervous about what I was about to do. There would be no turning back after this moment. This was it; the rest of my life. By now, I had reached Tanya's office. I raised an arm to knock on the door, hesitating only for a second, before knocking powerfully. _

_I heard Tanya call me in, and I nervously opened the door and walked in. Tanya was sat at her usual place, but standing next to her was a medium height guy, with the stereotypical blonde hair and blue eyes. He was average looking I guess, nothing spectacular. I could see him analysing me, looking me up and down, and I felt slightly insecure about the way he was looking at me, as though he was looking at a piece of meat. _

"_Isabella, I presume," he said, in a slimy voice._

"_Yes sir," I said, smiling brightly as I walked over._

_I outstretched my hand towards him, and he held it for a moment too long after he shook it, staring into my eyes in a strange way._

"_Isabella, this is James Denali," Tanya said._

"_Pleasure to meet you," I said._

"_Likewise," he smirked, as if he found the whole situation extremely funny. _

"_So this is your new husband. I'll leave you guys alone for a while, James give me a shout when you're done, I'm just down the hall," Tanya said, as she got up and left, shutting the door firmly behind her. _

_James took a step closer to me and grabbed hold of my upper arms. _

"_I think we're going to get along just fine," he said, before grabbing hold of my face and pulling me in for a rough kiss. My first instinct was to pull away, but I began to kiss him back after remembering what I had to do. I kissed him hard, pulling him closer towards me and grinding against him. He began to moan loudly as his hands roamed all over my body. I could feel his erection pressing against me as he continued groping me. _

_He suddenly stopped and pulled away, a strange glint in his eye. He pulled a piece of paper out of his pocket and handed it to me._

"_Proof that I am clean," he said. "No STI's or STD's at all."_

"_Great, I'm clean as well," I said, not sure how else to respond. _

"_Are you on birth control?" he asked. _

"_Yes, but I prefer condoms," I said quickly. _

"_Okay, that's fine," he said, and carried on groping me, as if nothing had happened. _

_He pressed himself against me, the strong smell of his sickening cologne assaulting my senses. He pulled away again, and went and sat in Tanya's seat, readjusting his trousers to hide his obvious erection._

_I sat down opposite him, and he began to speak._

"_Okay, so here's the story; we met at a local restaurant, love at first sight, all of that crap, and we're now madly in love. Okay?"_

"_Sure," I said. "It sounds fine."_

"_So you need to stick to that story. Also, you need to dress and act like a high society wife, my job is very prestigious and I can't be seen with a distasteful wife. How old are you?"_

"_Eighteen," I said._

"_Okay, I'm twenty-seven, so for the purposes of the marriage, you have to say that you're twenty-two. Also, Tanya told you that the contract was for three years. I want to extend that for five years, and as well as your mother's health bills, I will pay for long term health insurance for her, as well as put money aside for her to have a long and comfortable future, as I doubt that she'll be able to do heavy work with a decent income following all of the treatments; after all, they will all leave some form of permanent damage, right?" he said._

"_And what if I don't want to extend the contract?" I asked._

"_Then the whole deal is off, you have to work your ass off to earn enough money, and your mother lives in poverty for the rest of her life."_

_He had me in a corner, and he fucking well knew it. _

"_I'll meet you half way," I sighed. "Four years."_

"_No, five or nothing. Your choice."_

_Bastard. He knew that I needed this more than anything._

"_Okay," I said, defeated. I had no other choice at that point in time. _

"_Excellent," he said happily. "Sign here please," he said, handing me another contract._

_I signed and passed it back to him. "So now, we are going to seek a divorce due to irreconcilable differences in October 2011. We will get married at the end of September of this year, giving us about a month to fall in love, you know for appearances, and plan the wedding. By this time next week, we'll be announcing our engagement at a small party at my house," he said."Have you got any questions?"_

_I shook my head. "Not at the moment."_

"_Good. Moneywise, you need how much within six months?" _

"_$110,000," I said. _

_He pulled out his phone and started tapping random buttons. "So that's about...just under $19,000 a month. I'll pay that into your bank account, and you can transfer that however you want. I'll give you a personal allowance of $2,000 a month, and that goes towards the food for the house, plus anything extra you want, like clothes and stuff, that's yours to spend however you want. I'll pay for any utilities, so it's just food and any home furnishings you want. I'm going to give you free reign on decorating the house, should you want to. Also, if there is a party or function, I expect you to go and buy a new dress for the occasion; I can't have my wife wearing the same thing twice. Anything you buy whilst living with me, you can take with you when you go, it's yours," he reeled off. "Next time you speak to your mother and a best friend or whatever, make sure to tell them that you met a guy, and then you need to invite a few people to the wedding once we are engaged."_

"_Okay, that's fine," I said. _

"_How are you going to explain how you are earning so much money suddenly?" he asked. _

"_I'll say I got promoted to being an editor or something, I'll think of something," I said. _

"_The average salary for an editor in New York is about $7,000 a month," he said._

"_I'll say I'm an editor with an evening job or something," I said. "I don't know."_

"_Well we don't want to make people suspicious," he said. "You need to think of a good, believable lie, and I need to know it for when I tell people about you."_

"_How about an editor, with an evening job, as well as a weekend bar job?" I suggested._

"_Three jobs at once?" he asked, raising an eyebrow._

"_Yeah, my mom knows how hard working I am, and I'd told my best friend that I was going to try and get a few jobs at once. So editor pays about $7,000 a month, bar work; let's say I work twelve hours on both Saturday and Sunday at a bar, which pays about...I don't know, how much does it pay?"_

_He got his phone out again and looked it up. _

"_Well an average bartender earns $30,000 a year, which is about..." he stopped and opened up the calculator tool on the phone. "$2,500 a month. So that's $10,500 so far, we need about $9,000 more."_

"_Well..." I said, thinking hard. "Neither my mother nor my best friend have ever lived in New York, so they don't know what salaries are like here. What if we bump up the salary of the editor by $2,000, and the bartender by a couple of hundred dollars? That means we need $2,500 less, which is...$6,500. That's a much more convincing salary for an evening job, and I could just say I'm doing shop work?" I suggested._

"_That sounds reasonable," he said. "Is there anything else we need to discuss?"_

"_I haven't got anything," I said._

"_Okay then, I think we're done. For the rest of the day, we're going out shopping and to dinner and stuff, just so I can be seen with an attractive young woman, and then I'll bring you back. On Monday morning, be ready and packed, and I'll pick you up and we'll go to my home."_

"_Great," I said._

_He stood up, and I followed suit. "Tanya!" he called and she burst through the door a few seconds later. "We're going out now," he said, before turning to me. "Are you ready?"_

"_Yeah, let me just run and grab a purse," I said._

"_Okay, I'll just wait here," he replied._

_I ran back to my room and grabbed my little black bag and sunglasses, throwing my phone and wallet into the bag, before dashing back to the office._

_Tanya and James were in deep conversation when I got back, but stopped talking the minute I walked in._

"_Shall we go?" I said brightly, after a short but awkward silence._

"_Yep," he said, leading me out of the office. He led me down a corridor, before going through a back door that lead straight into the car park. _

"_I didn't know there was a door there," I said._

"_We need one to get girls out for home visits; we don't want people suspecting us. This just looks like a normal backdoor for the club," he said._

_I followed him towards a large, silver Audi A8. "I bought this baby brand new yesterday," he said proudly. _

"_It's nice," I said, noting the leather interior and tinted windows._

"_Good, because while you're staying with me, this is going to be your car. We'll tell people it's an engagement present," he said._

_I gulped, noticing now how big the car was. It was, as the English so appropriately say, a bloke's car. It was the type of car you expected a rich banker to drive, not a tiny young woman._

"_You do know how to drive, don't you?" he asked._

"_Of course," I answered. "Admittedly, not very well, but I can drive all the same."_

_He laughed quietly as we got into the beast and buckled up. "I thought we could go to the mall," he said as he drove cautiously out of the lot. The guy drove like an eighty year old woman: boringly slow._

"_James, as Rachel once wisely said in Friends, let me introduce you to someone," I said._

"_Who?" he asked, looking confused._

"_Fourth gear," I said, rolling my eyes. _

"_Hey, I don't always drive like this!" he protested. "I just don't want to hit anything."_

"_Oh yeah, by hitting the gas you're practically demonstrating Road Rage," I said playfully as he laughed. _

_I didn't much like the guy, but at least he seemed okay, I could talk to him freely, and he was offering me loads of stuff in exchange for the 'marriage', if you could call it that._

_We talked easily during the car ride, making easy banter and getting to know each other._

_We reached the mall, and he carefully parked the car. We got out, and spent the next few hours wandering around the mall. After what seemed like hundreds of shops, he took me to a fancy little French bistro and bought me a delicious dinner of French onion soup with freshly baked bread._

"_I'm going to ask Tanya to let you go tomorrow morning rather than Monday, I doubt that the activities that she wants you to do are that important that you have to stay another few days," he said, taking a sip of his wine. _

"_If you want," I said indifferently, turning my attention back to the soup. _

_I was starting to feel quite nervous about our arrangement; the fact that he was Tanya's brother didn't help matters._

_I was silent on the whole drive back, occasionally offering a few words to James' conversation to make it look like I was listening._

"_So make sure you are ready and packed for tomorrow morning," he said, as I was getting out. "I'll see you then. I'll talk to Tanya on the phone; she should be fine with it."_

"_Bye," I said numbly, walking back into the club._

_I made my way back to my bedroom, making a quick stop at the main bathroom on my floor first. The minute I walked in, I could hear a sniffing noise, followed by a quiet sob._

_There was no one in the room, but one of the cubicle doors was shut._

"_Hello?" I called. "Are you okay?"_

_The sobbing stopped suddenly. I walked over and knocked on the closed door. _

"_Who is it?" a shaky voice said._

"_My name's Isabella," I said. "I work here. Are you okay?" _

"_No," the voice said miserably. _

_The cubicle door opened violently, and I was stood face to face with a young girl, about the same age as me. She was dressed in the compulsory lingerie, and her long, golden hair was tangled and messy. She was strikingly beautiful, with a tall, willowy figure that would make models jealous. Even with the mascara running down her face from her clear blue eyes, she looked dazzling._

"_I'm Rosalie," she sniffed. "Are you a prostitute here?"_

"_Yes, but I haven't been here long. My mother's really ill and I need money for her treatment," I offered._

"_I've only been here a few months," she said. "I need money for college."_

"_What are you studying?" I asked._

"_Law. I'm only in my first year," she said, wiping her face on some toilet paper._

"_At least you're going to college," I said. "I would have been going to college this year."_

"_What would you have done?" she asked. _

"_Either English or something food related; I always wanted to open my own cafe or something," I said wistfully. "Anyway, what's wrong?"_

"_Just a bit of a rough client," she said. "I'm really regretting coming here."_

"_Aren't we all," I muttered. "Why don't you get cleaned up?"_

_She walked over to the sinks and began splashing water over her face. "You must think I'm hideous," she chuckled humourlessly._

"_Not at all, " I said. _

"_I mean, you look so lovely," she said._

"_I had to go out on a date," I said dryly. "I've been put in for a convenience marriage, and I had to get to know the guy today. Apparently he's some hot shot, so I had to get dressed up properly, I don't usually pay this much attention to my appearance," I laughed._

"_So when are you leaving?" Rosalie asked._

"_Tomorrow morning," I said. _

"_Are you nervous?" she asked. _

"_Yeah," I admitted. "I just don't know what he's going to be like, the stuff he's into, and I only met him today."_

"_I'm sure you'll be fine," she said reassuringly. _

_We talked for a while longer; Rosalie was lovely, and so easy to talk to._

"_Anyway, I have to go pack," I said reluctantly. _

"_Do you want a hand?" she asked. _

"_Sure," I said, happy for the company. She followed me back to my room, and we spent the next few hours chatting away as we packed my things up. Despite only knowing her for a while, I felt like she was my best friend. I gave her some pyjamas to put on, and I got myself ready for bed as well, removing all traces of make up from my face and getting into my own pyjamas, and we lounged around, talking about anything and everything._

_When we looked at the clock, we were surprised to find that it was 3am._

"_I should be going back to my own room, I've got some clients tomorrow," Rosalie said reluctantly._

"_Yeah, I've got a big day tomorrow as well," I said, nerves creeping up on me again._

"_Good luck," she said, getting up to hug me._

"_You too," I said. _

_She broke away, and with one final smile, she was gone, and I was all alone again. _

_I got into my bed and looked around the small, dingy room, in one way happy to be leaving it, in another way, apprehensive of the future ahead._

_As I spent one more unbearably sleepless night in that room, I thought of my future, and what it could be like._

_And in no way did I think that it could be worse than what I had already been through at the club._

_And as I, an unbelievably naive girl finally drifted to sleep that night, I never thought that the next few years of my life would pan out how they did._

I decided to stop writing there and go and order something to eat; I felt starving now. Although it was almost midnight, I knew the number of the most fantastic local Italian takeaway service, which was open twenty four hours a day, seven days a week.

I rang and ordered the most delicious spicy shrimp fettuccine alfredo and began to impatiently wait for it; I had been eating far too much take away lately, and the pounds were beginning to show, but I just didn't have the energy lately to cook. Besides, these weird cravings that I was getting would be too time consuming to cook myself, so why not let someone else do it for me, a lot quicker and better than I ever could?

When I heard the doorbell ring, I practically ran down to answer and grabbed my food from the spotty teenager, throwing the cash at him and making my way back up the stairs, which took longer than it had taken to get down them with my broken foot.

I jumped back into bed and switched on the TV, where they were showing Pretty Woman, one of my favourite films of all time.

I had taken to keeping some plates and cutlery hidden in my bedside table, and I reached down and grabbed a plate, knife and fork and plunged into the heavenly realms of pasta, a creamy sauce, and Richard Gere.

Once I was finished, I felt extremely tired, and so turned off the TV and went to sleep.

The next few days passed uneventfully, with me carrying on with my usual routine, and by the fifth day after Edward and Rosalie had visited, I found my thoughts drifting more and more to the idea of my life without James. As I fell asleep with those thoughts that night, I was beginning to seriously reconsider my decision. However, just a few hours after I'd fallen asleep, a strange noise woke me up. I turned to look at the clock: 5.47am.

I felt a surge of panic as I heard the tell-tale sounds of someone walking around downstairs. I stealthily got out of bed and grabbed James' baseball bat from under the bed, before slowly creeping down the stairs.

The person was in the kitchen. I tiptoed into the kitchen as quietly as was possible whilst wearing a cast, and peeked around the door, seeing that it was just James.

I let out a breath of relief and walked into the kitchen. "You scared the crap out of me," I said. "You're home early, you're not supposed to be back until tomorrow."

"Yes, well, when your wife is said to be fucking your business partner, you have to make certain sacrifices to nip any rumours in the bud, and this was the earliest I could get back. Do you have any idea what a scandal of this size could do to my career Isabella? Do you understand what would happen if this was to leak out? Of course you don't!" he shouted, as he turned to face me. "It makes no difference to you at all!"

"James, you're just tired after your flight," I said, stepping towards him, trying to avoid an argument.

"No I'm not!" he screamed, throwing a glass at me. The glass shattered near me, and small shards of it hit my legs. As I watched the crimson blood seep out of legs, I began to wish that I'd worn more than just shorts and a tank top to bed.

"Don't treat me like an idiot; I know exactly what you've been up to! That's why I flew back so quickly after I learnt that he'd been in my house! I wasn't about to give you another opportunity to fuck him, least of all in my house!" he screeched, throwing plates at me now.

"James, stop!" I pleaded as I tried to shield myself from the pieces of china hurtling my way.

He suddenly stopped flinging things at me and walked over to me, with short, angry strides. He grabbed hold of my arms and began to shake me fiercely. "When I married you," he shouted, "I did not pay that much money for you to simply fuck around with other men! You are my wife, understand?" his voice was getting louder and louder, and his grip harder.

"James, let me go," I said, trying to break free.

"Damnit, you knew what you were signing up to when you married me!" his nails were digging into my flesh and my lower arms were beginning to feel numb from the reduced blood supply. "What gave you the right to fuck other men behind my back?"

"I didn't James," I sobbed. "Please believe me, I didn't do anything!"

He pushed me violently, and I fell backwards, hitting my head on the corner of the kitchen table on my way down. I landed awkwardly on my bad foot and yelped out in pain. James stormed over towards me and grabbed hold of my hair, pulling my back onto my feet as I screamed out in pain.

"Hurts, doesn't it Isabella?" he asked, a malicious grin on his face.

"Why are you doing this?" I cried.

"Because if something like this ever leaked out, do you know what people would say about me? People talk, Isabella! People would have laughed at me all the time, the pussy who couldn't even keep hold of his wife!"

"Nothing happened," I said, trying to get him to calm down and stop.

He slapped me, hard, across the face. "Shut up," he spat. "I don't care anymore if anything happened or not. You need a reminder anyway, Isabella, a reminder that is long overdue, of who owns your fucking pussy!" he screeched. He had gone completely mad; he didn't even know what he was saying anymore. Nothing was making any sense. I stared into his manic eyes, read his satisfied face and flinched from his powerful grasp. My cheek was stinging from where he had slapped me, and my head was pounding from where it had hit the table, yet I forced myself to meet his gaze.

He suddenly walked through into the living room, pulling me in behind him, and pushed me down to the ground. He slammed the door shut behind him and came over to where I was lying on the floor and began to rip my clothes away from my body.

"You belong to me," he said, as he forced his body against mine. I tried to push him away, but I didn't have any strength left. Without any warning, he slammed his cock into me. I shrieked out in pain; it felt as though my insides were being ripped apart, the way he was continuously pumping in and out of me. He began to grope my breasts as well, biting and pinching them as hard as he could. His thrusts into me became harder and harder, until I couldn't stand the pain anymore. I began to scream and sob, pounding at his back, begging him to stop, but he wouldn't listen to any of my pleas.

Finally, he climaxed, and got himself up from the floor, leaving me panting and crying on the floor for just a second, before he began to kick my legs and feet. "Get up!" he started screaming. I physically felt numb, and couldn't move. Seeing this as an act of defiance, he pulled me up by my hair again and forced me against the wall, and began thrusting his cock in and out of me again, biting my neck, shoulder, arms, anywhere he could reach. Eventually, he stopped fucking me, and began to bite a trail down my stomach, down to my core. He bit hard around my inner thighs and above my slit, before directly biting it everywhere he could reach, sinking his teeth into the delicate flesh. He took my clit in his teeth and bit down on it hard, and I screamed out in pain.

Once he'd had enough of that, he turned me around so that I was facing the wall, and pounded into me from behind, now biting my back.

"Do you know why I am biting you Isabella?" he asked.

"No," I squeaked.

"To leave my mark on you, so that you remember in the future who owns you," he snarled against my body.

He gripped hold of my thighs as he continued ploughing in and out to support himself, and he came loudly, shouting and moaning in my ear, before continuing his weird biting ritual on my ass.

Every inch of my body felt sore and numb and was throbbing and stinging with pain, but James was still not satisfied as he threw me onto the couch and began hitting anywhere he could reach, punching, slapping, pinching, scratching, you name it, he was doing it, as I lay beneath him, my ears ringing with his insults and cutting words. He grabbed hold of my shoulders, his fingers clawing into the soft tissue, before moving his hands up until they were circling my neck. He applied pressure, and I could feel my air supply decreasing.

"Get up," he muttered, his hands still around my neck as he pulled me up and dragged me back to the kitchen. He grabbed a knife and pressed it into the base of my neck, the other fist still holding my neck.

"With just one movement Isabella, I could have you lying dead on this floor," he whispered in my ear. "Which do you prefer: that I slit your throat or that I strangle you? Hmm?"

He dug the knife in a bit further and tightened his fist slightly, until I began to choke. He loosened his fist slightly, and moved the knife, trailing it down between my breasts, down my stop and to my core. He let go of my neck completely, moving his hand down to spread my sex open, sticking a few fingers up it painfully, pushing them in and out as I winced and moaned in pain.

"How do you like the idea of my fucking you with this knife?" he asked, running the tip of the blade up and down my inner thigh.

"Please James, let me go," I sobbed, as his fingers kept plunging in and out. I felt the cold blade of the knife pressed against my skin, and tensed as I felt it move closer to my centre. He hovered the tip of the knife near to my sex, pressing the tip against my clit. I held my breath in fear, when suddenly he threw the knife aside, removed his fingers, and a second later, had his cock back inside me.

He stopped for a moment, and a grin spread across his face. He pushed me down to my knees and pushed his erection towards my face, shoving it into my mouth.

"Suck me dry you whore," he said, and I obeyed, tears pouring down my face, as I wished for the ordeal to finish sooner.

It didn't take him long to cum, his vile flavour filling my mouth and he pulled out quickly, before kneeling in front of me and pushing me into a lying position. He lay down on his side next to me and began to run his hands along my body once more while giving himself a hand job. As the pace of his hand began to speed up, he positioned himself closer to me, and came all over my stomach. He lay down next to me for a second, pinching up and down my arm and grabbing hold of my neck once more, staying like this for a while.

Eventually, he got up and moved away from me , slapping me an few times and kicked my leg a few more times, before he went into the other room, zipping himself up as he went. I heard him slam the door and his car leave the driveway.

I knew what I had to do, and I had to do it fast. I managed to heave myself up from the couch somehow, and walk slowly upstairs. I grabbed the first pair of sweatpants and hoodie I could find, and got into them, remembering to put on underwear. Every move I made sent shooting pains around my body, but I kept myself going, not knowing how long it would be before he came back.

I grabbed a bag and threw all of my personal possessions into it, photos, the letters from Renee and Jacob, gifts from the two of them, and went back down the stairs, grabbing my car keys. I didn't even stop to assess the damage or look in a mirror before I left, deciding not to waste any time at all.

I slipped on my slippers, and left the house, getting into the car as fast as I could. I started the car, and began to drive to the only place I could think of going.

I drove quickly, tears filled with pain and anguish slipped down my face and blurred my vision as I drove through the streets.

I finally pulled up outside the building, and walked quickly up the stairs until I reached the door I needed, tears still cascading down my face.

I hit the door repeatedly until someone answered.

"Bella?" I heard his velvet voice say, a voice full of surprise and shock.

"Edward," I sobbed, before everything went black.

* * *

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	22. Chapter 22

**Happy New Year Everyone! I hope that you all had a lovely Christmas, and that this year will be a great one for all of you, and that you will all have a healthy, happy and prosperous year! **

**Thank you as always to all of my readers, reviewers and people who are adding me to alerts, favourites etc. Also, I just wanted to thank everyone who has stuck with this story so far over 2011, and I hope that you will continue to do so over 2012. I will try my hardest to post regularly, and I hope that my writing can live up to your expectations.**

**Please continue to review, let's see if we can get the new year off to a bang with loads of reviews!**

******Disclaimer: Stephanie Meyer owns the characters, this plot is mine though!**

******Quick warning: I say this every time, but this is my longest chapter so far, at 29 pages of Microsoft Word, so it may take a while to read! Also, the usual language, abuse etc warning. **

******Enough talking by me, let's get on with it!**

******Enjoy!**

* * *

**EPOV**

"Edward," Bella mumbled, swaying around. Her eyes slid shut, and she lurched forwards. I stepped forwards quickly and grabbed hold of her, picking her up bridal style. I carried her into the living room quickly, shutting the apartment door behind me, and lay her down on the couch.

Her face was beginning to swell, and a black eye was beginning to develop. Her hair was in disarray, falling out of a loose bun on the top of her head. She had a trail of dried blood down her chin and around her nose, and the bit of her neck that I could see was bruised and marked.

She had passed out completely now. She was dressed oddly, in a huge, baggy hoodie and sweatpants, wearing just a thin pair of slippers on her feet covering the cast on one foot, and she was clutching a bag of some kind.

I had just been about to leave for work, and so was freshly showered and dressed in my best suit, but I didn't care. Something had happened to Bella, and I needed to help her.

I prised the bag from her fingers and put it gently aside, before throwing my jacket in the same direction.

Her skin felt cool and clammy, and her hair was sticking to her sweaty forehead. I smoothed it aside, clearing her face, and removed the slippers from her feet.

I ran through the possibilities of what could have happened in my head; James wasn't due back until tomorrow, and it didn't seem as though she'd been mugged or anything. Something must have happened at home, she was still dressed in the hoodie and sweatpants after all, but what?

I phoned the hospital and pretended to be sick again, managing to get the day off to look after Bella; after all, I couldn't leave her alone, not when she'd come especially to me for help.

I sat on the floor beside her, holding her hand. I wasn't sure what to do, and so decided to just wait until she woke up.

About fifteen minutes later, she began to come around, mumbling incoherently, before it turned into full blown screaming.

"Bella!" I shouted. "Bella, it's okay, you're with me, Edward!"

This seemed to console her a little, and her screams reduced, turning into muffled sobs. I ran to grab her a glass of water from the kitchen, walking back quickly and resuming my place next to her.

She began to open her eyes slowly, looking around the room.

"Bella," I said softly.

She turned to look at me, her eyes fluttering. I held the glass of water towards her, and she accepted it, sipping from it delicately. She winced and she lay back down on the couch, a reaction that didn't go unnoticed.

"What happened?" I asked, concerned.

She sat up and blinked a few times, looking dazed.

"Bella?" I said.

She turned and focused her gaze on me for the first time. "I don't...I don't know," she said, sounding confused. "I'm hoping it was just a dream," she added quietly, a comment which I don't think that I was supposed to hear. "Have you got a full length mirror anywhere?"

"In my bedroom, why?" I asked.

"Can I see myself in it please?" she asked.

"Sure," I said, getting up. "Do you need help getting there?"

"No, I'm fine," she said, pulling herself to her feet. "Ouch!" she said, and I picked her up bridal style again, even though she had said not to. She didn't protest though, instead resting her head against my chest.

Once we reached the bedroom, I set her down in front of the mirror, and she stood shakily in front of it. She grabbed hold of the hem of her hoodie, trying to pull it over her head. I went back to the door, intending to give her some privacy, but she called me back.

"Edward?" she said. "I can't get my hoodie off, it hurts too much to stretch like that, could you help please?" she asked shyly.

"Sure," I said, walking back over.

I stood behind her and grabbed hold of the hoodie, gently pulling it over her head.

"Oh my god," I gasped. Bella's stomach and sides were covered in scratches and bruises that were beginning to form. They trailed up around her stomach, twisted round her sides to her back before snaking up into her bra. There seemed to be sticky residue on her stomach of some kind, and there were finger-shaped bruises around her neck and shoulders. Her stomach was slightly swollen, and bulged out over the waistband of her sweatpants.

"Who did this?" I demanded.

Bella was lifelessly staring at her reflection in the mirror, her eyes following the contours of the marks. "James came home early," she said indifferently. "Could you pull my sweatpants down please?"

I did as she asked, and her legs weren't looking much better than the rest of her body.

"Bella, you have to go to the hospital," I said.

"Now?" she asked, her eyes wide.

"Yes," I said firmly.

"Can I go later?" she asked. "I'm really tired."

"Now," I said, putting her clothes back on her gently.

She sighed and allowed me to put her clothes back on her. "Do you want to borrow something of mine?" I offered.

"No thanks, I'm okay like this," she said, her eyes never leaving her reflection as I redressed her back into her clothes.

The whole drive to the hospital, Bella looked out of the passenger window silently, not uttering even a single word.

I finally swung into the parking lot of the hospital. I had decided to take Bella to another hospital again, just in case James was lurking around or something.

"Bella?" I said to her unresponsive body. "Bella?"

"Hmm?" she said, looking around.

"We're here."

"Okay," she said quietly, starting to get out of the car.

I got out quickly and pulled her door open, helping her out of the car, and supporting her as we walked into the entrance of the hospital.

"We have got to stop doing this together," I joked, earning a tiny smile from her.

After waiting for two hours in the waiting room, half an hour in the examination room and then a further forty minutes for the doctor's colleague to turn up, we were referred to another area in the hospital. Fantastic.

We were sat in an examination room again, with Bella sat on the couch and me standing near to it.

"Bella Denali?" a doctor finally asked, walking in and looking at his clipboard.

"Yes," Bella said, her voice hoarse.

"Okay, I hear that you've had a bit of an incident," he said. "What happened?"

"My husband came home and began to repeatedly hit and rape me," she said without emotion.

"Right. Are there any areas which are particularly bad or of concern to you?"

"Just everywhere really," she said. "I broke my foot, and I was meant to get the cast off in the next few days."

"Okay, I'll check that out for you. Do you want me to do a general assessment of your injuries?" he asked, as Bella nodded. "What I can also do is document those injuries, and if you ever wanted to take your husband to court or report him, then I could act as a witness."

"Okay," Bella said.

"I'll step out for just a moment while you get undressed. Do you want me to get you a female doctor to check your vaginal area?" he asked. Once again, Bella nodded.

"I'll go out as well," I said, getting up. "I'll wait outside while they do their assessments."

"Thanks," Bella said quietly, as I followed the doctor out.

I waited in the hall as the doctor went in and out, alternating between him and a female doctor, and eventually I was invited back in.

Bella was pulling her hoodie back on as I walked in, and sat back on the low couch.

"You alright?" I asked quietly.

"Yep," she said. "They haven't told me anything yet, they wanted to finish the assessments."

"Do you want me to leave while they tell you?"

"No, no, you're fine," she said quickly.

"Right, so Bella, mainly it seems like you have bruising, cuts and scratches obviously. You have no signs of any internal injury or bleeding as yet, and your foot will need to be realigned and put in a cast for another four weeks, the break partially fractured again when it was kicked I presume. Your vaginal area may feel sore for a while, but despite all of the trauma, you seem to be fine internally. You may suffer bouts of depression or post traumatic stress disorder, but the best way of dealing with that initially is to try and go back to a regular routine and live life normally. If you can't deal with it, or if it is really severe, then we can give you medications for it," the doctor said, and I sighed out in relief. "Your stomach seems to be slightly swollen, but I wouldn't worry about that. Sometimes in times of stress, our stomachs expand briefly due to problems with digestion, but I will double check that it the scans, but it's just due to prolonged stress. That should sort it's self out in the next few days."

At least there would be no permanent physical damage. Psychological damage was another issue altogether.

"Yeah, my stomachs been like that for a few weeks, it's nothing to do with my husband," Bella said. "I suffer from digestive problems sometimes."

"Okay, well at least we know that it isn't serious then. However, I've booked you in for an appointment the day after tomorrow with me, just to double check that no other damage has been overlooked. I'll also do an x-ray and scans of your abdomen, but I think that it is very unlikely that you have anything broken or internal damage. By then, all of the bruises should have fully appeared, and we can properly assess and record the areas of most damage."

"Thank you," Bella said.

"No problem," he smiled. "I'd advise that you take it easy for the next two weeks, I'll write you a sick note for the next two weeks to recover from physical injury. Hot baths will ease the pain, and try to eat well, even if you're not hungry. If you just go along to orthopaedics, they'll sort out your foot for you."

"Thanks doctor," I said, standing up to shake his hand.

We found our way to orthopaedics and waited another hour until we could be seen. Bella cried out in pain when they realigned the bone, and I grabbed hold of her hand and squeezed it, her cry causing a dull ache in my chest.

Once she was finally done, I got her a wheelchair and wheeled her out of the hospital and back to the car.

"What do you want for dinner?" I asked.

She looked at me in surprise. "Can you just drop me off home or something?"

"What?" I said, almost crashing the car. "Bella, are you out of your mind? You can't go back there!"

"Well then where will I go?" she asked crossly, crossing her arms over her chest.

"My place obviously," I said. "You can stay as long as you need to."

She fell silent again, before letting out a huge sigh.

"I think it's time to take him to court," she said.

"Thank god," I said, rolling my eyes. "I was going to do it myself this time if you wouldn't."

Bella laughed weakly. "I'd be an idiot not to do it this time."

"Too right," I muttered. "You can stay with me as long as you want, it'll be fun. You have to stay until the end of the trial at least though."

"Why?" she asked.

"Well you're going to need protection," I said seriously. "Who'd protect you if anything happened and you were living alone?"

She looked at me for a second, before cracking up laughing.

"What?" I said, confused.

"You protecting me?" she laughed. "I don't think so."

"Why, you don't think I'm strong enough?"

"Nope," she said simply, smirking. She seemed to be acting normally now, not as quiet or depressed as before.

"Thanks for the support," I said, rolling my eyes as she laughed at me. "So what shall we eat?"

"I don't mind, I'm not very hungry at the moment," she said.

"Bella you have to eat," I argued.

"But I don't want to," she said.

"Life's a bitch like that," I said simply. "We all have to do things we don't want to."

"Okay, well when I get hungry I'll tell you," she said, sounding slightly annoyed.

"Fine," I agreed.

The rest of the journey passed uneventfully, and we just made small talk until we made it home to the apartment.

"I'll set up the guest bedroom for you," I said, holding the door open for her.

"I'll help," she offered.

"No you won't, you are going to sit on the couch and relax and watch TV," I ordered.

"Jeez Edward, I'm fine," she said, rolling her eyes.

"Yeah, except for the part that you can't move without wincing in pain," I said sarcastically.

"What am I doing right now?" she asked.

"Wincing."

"No I'm not!" she said indignantly.

"I don't care, stop being awkward and watch TV woman," I said, and she finally stomped over to the couch and picked up the remote, pouting.

"I'm not happy about this," she called, as I made my way to the guest bedroom, grabbing some clean bedding from the closet first.

I threw open the windows and got to work changing the sheets quickly, before throwing the dirty ones in the laundry.

"All done," I called. "Are you hungry yet?"

"No," she shouted back.

I went back to the living room and sat down beside her on the couch. I got up again, and gently lifted her so that she was now sat on the couch sideways, and sat back where I had been, pulling her feet into my lap. She lay back against the cushions of the couch, and I began to massage her feet, reaching over to the remote and switching off the TV.

"I think that we need to talk," I said. "What happened?"

"I don't want to talk about it," she muttered, her good mood vanishing in a flash.

"Bella," I cut in, my voice sharper this time.

She sighed loudly. "You remember Victoria?"

"Yeah," I said.

"Apparently she was driving around the day you and Rosalie came over, and she saw you car. Later on when she was driving past, she saw you getting into it and recognised you-"

"Wait, what?" I said, confused. "How does she know what I look like?"

"Apparently you impregnated her ex girlfriend," she said dryly.

"Lauren?"

"Why, have you impregnated anybody else recently?" Bella asked, raising an eyebrow.

"No, I just didn't know she was gay."

"Bisexual," she said. "Anyway, I got a call later that day from James accusing me of having an affair with you. Victoria seems to have been checking up on me on his behalf. So he flew home slightly earlier and got annoyed. He started hitting and raping me, alternating between the two, before threatening to fuck me with a knife."

I stared at her, horrified. "Did he?"

"He got a knife and starting moving it across my body, but he didn't really do much else," she said.

I noticed that I had stopped massaging her feet, and started again.

"When we take him to court, it might be a good idea to have some evidence," I said slowly. "What do you think of taking some photos of you as proof of the extreme physical abuse?"

"That's probably a good idea," she said, nodding.

We sat in silence for a while.

"Are you hungry yet?" I asked again.

"Edward," she said, sounding annoyed. "I said I'll tell you when I'm hungry."

"Sorry. Do you want to sleep or shower or anything?"

"Actually a shower sounds good," she said. "But I don't think that I'll be able to stand for that long. I should probably wait a few days, I won't be able to reach and wash my hair either."

"Hold on," I said, getting up. I went into my bathroom that was joined to my bedroom, and started to run a hot bath. I'd bought a co-worker a bath set as a birthday present, but decided that I could get her another one, and opened it up, pouring some of the rose bubble bath mix into the water, making the room smell floral and clean. I took the candles from the set and dotted them around the bathroom, grabbing my lighter from my bedroom and lighting them all.

I went back to the living room and picked up a very confused looking Bella from the couch.

"What are you doing?" she asked.

"You'll see," I said, as I carried her into the bathroom. I set her down on the closed toilet seat, and helped her pull her hoodie off, and then her sweatpants, leaving her in just her underwear. "I'll leave you to it," I said, turning to leave.

"Edward, can you stay?" she asked nervously. "I don't think I'll be able to get in the bath myself, and I certainly won't be able to undo my bra; when I tried in the hospital I couldn't move my arms that far. The doctor had to do it for me."

"Erm...okay," I said.

"But not yet," she said quickly. "Just give me one minute first."

I stepped out of the bathroom and shut the door, waiting for a few minutes.

I heard the toilet flush, and a few seconds later Bella called me back in. She was stood by the sink washing her hands.

"Ready to get in?" I asked, and she nodded.

I walked over to her, and she collapsed against me. I held her securely against my body, trying to ignore the smoothness of her skin and the softness of her curves. I reached round and undid the clasp of her bra, and she pulled it off from her arms and threw it aside. I slipped my fingers into the waistband of her panties and tugged them down gently, my eyes never leaving her face. I picked her up bridal style, and pulled them off completely, again keeping my eyes trained on hers, trying to be a gentleman.

I lowered her into the warm water, and she moaned out in appreciation, leaning back and closing her eyes.

"Do you want me to wash your hair?" I offered.

"No, it's fine," she said. "You've already done so much."

"It's fine, really," I said, undoing her hair from the loose bun, letting it fall loose around her bare shoulders. I moved and kneeled on the floor behind her, massaging her head and getting her hair wet. "You'll have to tell me what to do though; I've never washed a girl's hair before."

"It's the same as washing your own hair," she laughed. "The only difference is that mine's longer."

I got up and went to the other end of the bath, grabbing hold of the shower head that was attached to the tap, but I couldn't get it to reach the other end of the bath to wash Bella's hair with. I tugged at it, hoping that somehow I could get it to reach. Bella watched me, amusement dancing in her eyes. "Do you want me to turn around?"

"Yeah," I said, turning her body around in the water. My own clothes were getting soaked, but I didn't care.

I turned on the shower, and let the hot water run over her head, massaging her scalp with one hand. I grabbed my shampoo and lathered it into her hair gently, making sure that her hair was covered in it, and rinsed it off thoroughly, getting all traces of it out. I then did the same with conditioner.

"Sorry," I said. "I had to use men's shampoo and conditioner, I don't have any other ones."

"It doesn't matter," she said. "It smells good."

Once all of the conditioner was out, I attempted to tie her hair up in a bun to keep it out of the bubbles, but the bun just collapsed, looking lifeless. I managed to get it into a high ponytail and somehow tucked the hair into the tie, so that it was all up.

I turned her body back around, so that she could lean against the bathtub, and grabbed the loofah, squirting a load of my shower gel onto it and gently spreading it over her gorgeous body. The water came up to the tops of her breasts, and her skin was by now turned varying shades of purple, green and yellow. I gently scrubbed her back, shoulders and arms, before handing her the loofah to finish off.

She was straining to reach her calves and feet, so I took the loofah back off her and finished these areas for her, before grabbing to shower head again to rinse the bubbles off.

"Do you want to stay in here a while longer?" I asked.

"No, I'm alright thanks," she said.

"Okay, I'll help you out," I said, grabbing a huge bath towel from the small cabinet. I pulled out the plug, and helped her stand as the water drained away. I rinsed her off with the shower head one more time, before wrapping her up in the towel and carrying her into my bedroom.

I lay her down on my bed, and lay down next to her, pulling her wet body into mine. She sighed and snuggled into my body, closing her eyes and clutching my shirt.

I looked at her peaceful face, tracing it with my fingertips, my fingers ghosting over the black eye, puffy red cheek. She opened her eyes, and stared at my face.

I began to place small butterfly kisses across her face, moving down to her neck, kissing each bruise, cut, scratch, willing it to go away, as her small fingers caressed my hair.

I couldn't help but feel this was my fault; if I'd have pushed her harder to convict him, would this have still happened? Probably not.

"Don't beat yourself up, it wasn't you fault," Bella's soft voice said, breaking me out of my reverie. I looked up at her. "What could have you done? It was meant to happen."

"I just think I should have pushed you harder to convict him," I said. "How did you do that anyway?"

"What?"

"Read my mind like that?"

"Lucky guess," she said. "You just had a really pained expression, and I guessed maybe that was why. Looks like you're not that hard to read," she smirked. "And don't be stupid, it was no one's fault but mine, I should have convicted him earlier."

"Bella, this wasn't your fault at all. Now go to sleep," I said, swatting at her hair as she laughed.

"I'm hungry now," she said, and her stomach rumbled on cue.

"Okay then," I said, getting up. "What would you like? We'll order in."

"Pizza?" she suggested.

"What toppings do you like?"

"Chicken, jalapenos, peppers, tomatoes, and extra cheese," she reeled off quickly. "But if you want anything else on it as well, feel free."

"Nope, that sounds fine, that's normally what I get anyway," I said truthfully.

"Really?" she asked. "What a coincidence."

"Indeed," I said absentmindedly. "I'll pull you out some of my clothes to wear."

I went to my wardrobe and got her a half sleeved T-shirt that had shrunk way too much in the wash, and a pair of shorts. "These should fit you better than anything else I've got. I'll call my sister round later and she can bring you some proper clothes from somewhere."

"Thanks," she said, as I threw them to the bed.

"I'll go order the food while you get ready," I said.

After I'd called the pizza place, I phoned Alice and told her to come over later when she was free.

Bella limped slowly back into the living room, wearing the clothes that I'd given her. They looked a million times better on her than when I wore them.

"You should have called me, I would have carried you," I said.

"It's fine, I can't stay sitting forever," she said.

"I guess," I said dejectedly. I'd quite liked carrying her everywhere.

"Can I use the phone quickly please? I need to ring Angela at work and tell her that I won't be in, and tell her how to run the place," Bella said.

"Sure, take your time," I said, handing her the phone.

"Thanks," she said, beginning to dial the number.

"I'm just going to get changed as well, I'll give you some privacy on the phone" I quickly took another shower myself; I was starting to smell from all of the running and carrying, not that I minded. I washed my hair quickly, and rubbed the shower gel all over, before rinsing, getting out and putting on some old sweatpants and a wife beater.

When I went back into the living room, Bella's hair was open, and she was watching Friends whilst lying across the couch.

I grabbed some napkins, plates, glasses and drinks from the kitchen and put them down on the coffee table, making sure that everything was ready for when the pizza arrived.

Not long after, I was paying the pizza boy, and me and Bella dove into the pizza. It was beginning to get dark outside, and neither of us had eaten all day, so we were starving.

Once we were finished, I quickly brushed Bella's hair for her, and we lay down on opposite ends of the couch and watched the Friends marathon, laughing hysterically at the show, despite the fact that I'd seen it a million times before. That shit never gets old.

We were in the middle of a particularly funny episode, when the doorbell rang. I got up to answer it, annoyed; this was one of my favourite episodes.

My annoyance soon evaporated though when I saw Alice on the other side of the door.

"Ali!" I grinned, hugging her.

"Hey Edward," she said, walking in.

"Bella, this is Alice, my sister," I said, introducing Alice.

The minute she caught sight of Bella, she squealed and ran towards her, hugging her tightly. I saw Bella wince, even though she didn't say anything.

"Alice!" I shouted.

"Oh my god, I'm so sorry!" she said, jumping back. "I completely forgot, I'm sorry!"

"It's fine, don't worry," Bella laughed. "Are you really his sister? You look nothing alike."

"You know how I mentioned about my mother once?" I started.

"About her boyfriend?" she asked.

"Yeah, his mom and my mom were sisters, and a few weeks after Edward was put in state care, my parents adopted him," Alice reeled off quickly, as if she had it rehearsed.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to pry," Bella said, sounding embarrassed.

"Don't worry about it," I laughed. "Alice just loves to tell the story, thinks it's romantic or some shit."

"Shut up," Alice grinned, throwing a cushion at him. "Anyway, I can't stay for long, so what's up?"

"I need you to get Bella some clothes for while she's staying here," I said.

Alice simply looked Bella up and down a few times, and ran back out of the apartment, screaming back: "I'll be back soon!"

"Wow," Bella said.

"Yeah, she's a lot to take in one go," I agreed.

"How can someone so tiny be louder than the whole of New York put together?" she asked.

"I have absolutely no idea how she manages that; whenever you phone her as well, no matter what time, she's screeching," I said, moving back over to the couch and sitting down again. "She knows absolutely everything fashion related, that's why I asked her to pick you up some stuff."

"You didn't have to, I could've just gone and got some stuff tomorrow," Bella said.

"What, back to psycho? I don't think so."

"I'm going to have to go back at some point," she said.

"Yeah, once he's in prison or I'm dead, whichever comes first. Do you want some Tylenol or anything?"

"I'm fine at the moment," she said. "Maybe later."

We watched the TV in silence, occasionally laughing at something funny that one of the characters did or said.

About an hour later, Alice was back, banging the door and singing at the top of her lungs.

"Hold on Alice!" I yelled. "I'm coming!"

She carried on singing, and even when I'd opened the door she didn't stop.

"Alice, the door's open now," I said. "You can stop the fucking singing!"

"I like singing," she sniffed, finally stopping the hideous noise. "Anyway, you go into another room while I give Bella her clothes."

"Charming, kicked out of my own living room," I said, raising an eyebrow.

"Life's a bitch," Alice sang, bustling past me with a million shopping bags. "Hey Bella!"

"Hey Alice," Bella said from the couch, looking amused.

"Edward was just leaving," Alice said, giving me a pointed look.

"Jeez," I mumbled, grabbing my pack of cigarettes from my coat pocket and a lighter, and going out to the balcony.

I leaned against the balcony railing, looking out across the city. It was getting dark, and the city was lit up by millions of car headlights, apartment lights and office windows, as well as all of the shop signs and well lit window displays. I pulled a cigarette out of the packet and lit it, bringing it up to my mouth.

I didn't smoke much at all; a packet could last me a couple of months, but sometimes I just liked the feeling of calm and peace that I got from it. The air was cool, and a slight breeze was rolling over the metropolis, gently sweeping away the sticky heat of the day.

I stood outside for about an hour, waiting for Alice to come and tell me when it was safe to come in. After the hour was up however, I decided to take my chances and go inside. The balcony was off of my bedroom, so I knocked on the door to the living room to see if it was okay to go in.

"Alice?" I called.

"What?" she said.

"Can I come in yet?"

"Yep."

I pushed open the door and walked in, and Bella and Alice were sat on the couch and pigging out on my ice cream stash, Bella still in the clothes that I had given her and all traces of shopping bags out of sight.

"You could have come in ages ago, we were done in five minutes," Alice smirked.

"I thought you were going to try stuff on or get changed or some shit," I said confused.

"No, I just showed Bella the clothes and then put them all away in the guest bedroom closet. We were done in five minutes," Alice said.

"So you just left me standing outside for an hour for nothing?"

"Yeah," Alice said. "Is there a problem with that? Not our fault that you're stupid."

"I'm stupid?" I said, getting wound up. "You're the one who told me to leave!"

"Yeah, so that I could _show _Bella her clothes. How long did you think that would take dumbass?"

I opened and closed my mouth a few times, trying to think of something clever to say, but I couldn't; fuck, she was right.

Bella laughed at the expression on my face. "I'm sorry," she said sweetly.

"It's fine, don't worry about it," I shrugged. "You on the other hand," I said, turning to Alice. "You'd better watch out pixie."

"Ooh, whatcha gonna do?"

"First of all, we're not in some stupid gang film. Second, let's just say, you watch your back," I said.

"Now who's talking like they're in a stupid gang film? Plus, how the hell did I sound like that?" Alice asked.

"When you said, and I quote, 'Whatcha gonna do?"

Alice looked at my face for a moment, before she burst out laughing. "How does that sound like gang talk?"

"It just did," was my brilliant come back. Oh, and I forgot to mention the long pause before I said it as well.

Alice and Bella were laughing hysterically at me by now. Fan-fucking-tastic.

"Alice, shouldn't you be leaving now?" I asked.

"Nah, I don't have to be at work until..." Alice paused to look at the clock. "An hour and a half ago."

She carried on eating the ice cream.

"Well shouldn't you go then?" I asked, trying to hint to her to piss off.

"Everyone knows that I'm the boss anyway, not that other moron. I can do what I like."

"Alice, go to work!" I yelled.

"All right, all right sweet cheeks, I was just leaving," Alice said, rolling her eyes. She got up and kissed Bella's cheek, before stalking out, throwing me a contemptuous glare as she did, dramatically slamming the door behind her.

Bella starting laughing. "You really are mental, the pair of you."

"Just Alice really," I said. "Do you want anything else to eat or drink or anything?"

"I'm fine, I just really wanted to go to bed now," she said. "I'm really tired out."

"Of course," I said. "You can use my bathroom to get ready; I've put out a new toothbrush for you."

I walked over and picked her up again, carrying her into the bathroom before leaving and waiting in my bedroom.

About fifteen minutes later, she called me and I helped her into her bed in the guest room, and then got myself ready for bed.

For some reason, I felt shattered, and so fell asleep relatively quickly.

After a few hours however, someone screaming woke me up. I panicked for a moment, grabbed my baseball bat, and ran out into the living room to see what was going on. I suddenly remembered about Bella, and ran into the guest bedroom.

She was lying in the middle of the bed, the covers strewn around her, thrashing about, hitting against the pillows and sheets, and struggling against something. Tears were streaming down her face, and she was screaming excruciatingly loudly.

"Bella? Bella," I called, making my way over to her.

I kneeled on the side of the bed and shook her arm gently. "Bella? Wake up."

"Get off me!" she screeched, fighting harder. She flinched away from my touch and started hitting around where my hand had been.

"Wake up!" I said more forcefully, this time shaking her more firmly, but she still wouldn't wake up, and the screaming was getting louder.

"DON'T TOUCH ME!" She screamed so loudly that I had to shield my ears; my heart broke seeing her in so much pain and agony, and I tried again to wake her up.

I leaned over and hovered above her, positioning my mouth near to her ear, and shouted again, shaking her at the same time.

"STOP! PLEASE STOP!" she shouted, her voice breaking as she began howling as she sobbed.

She hit out again, and started to punch my chest, trying to get me away, but I wouldn't move. I kept shaking her and saying her name, as she continued to punch against me. She slapped and hit me, her fists beating against my back and her hands slapping my shoulders. Soon after, she managed to punch me square in the face, and I reeled back for a second, before persevering in my quest to wake her up.

After taking several more hits, she finally woke up, sobbing, panting and sweating.

"You okay?" I asked stupidly. Of course she wasn't, I thought to myself.

She nodded her head. "Just a bad dream. Sorry for waking you."

"Don't be silly. Come here," I said, holding my arms out. She moved closer to me and sat down in my lap, putting her head against my chest. "Want to talk about it?"

She shook her head. "Not right now."

"Okay," I said, not wanting to push her. I could guess what it was about anyway. A pretty confident guess.

I rocked gently backwards and forwards, cradling her against me, waiting for the soft sobbing to finish. I passed her a tissue from the box on the nightstand, and the sniffing eventually began to die down.

"You should get some sleep," I said, lying her down again.

I grabbed her a glass of water from the kitchen and put it on the nightstand, before going back to my own bed, only to be awoken an hour later again, and again having to do the impossible task of waking Bella up.

This time, I lay down with her in my arms, intending to leave when she woke up, but I fell asleep as well, and was woken up again, this time with punches to the face and kicks to the junk.

So it seemed that sleeping alone didn't work and sleeping with someone else didn't work in stopping the nightmares, but I didn't mind; Bella had been through a lot worse than a kick to the balls.

Finally in the early hours of the morning, Bella seemed to be sleeping peacefully. I was no longer tired, so I slipped out of bed and fried some eggs and grilled some bread, quickly cut up fruit for a fruit salad, put out yoghurt, milk, a fresh pot of coffee, fruit juice, basically anything that could be deemed breakfast food.

Soon after I was finished frying the eggs, Bella stumbled in, rubbing the sleep from her eyes.

"Hey," she said, her voice sounding strained and weak.

"Morning," I smiled.

"What happened to your face?" she asked, confused.

"Oh nothing," I said, brushing it off. "Why, what's happened to it?" I didn't know that anything had actually bruised or whatever.

"Looks like you had a nosebleed at some point," she said.

"That's strange," I said. "Sit down, enjoy, I'll just go clean it up."

"How much do you think I eat?" she laughed.

"I didn't know what you liked to eat," I said. "So I prepared anything and everything I had. At least this way, there will be something that you like," I laughed.

She took a seat as I went over to my bathroom and looked in the mirror. She was right; I'd had a nosebleed, which had now dried into a lovely trail of blood leading down to my chin. I cleaned it off quickly with some wet tissue, and went to join Bella again, who was tucking into some fruit.

"We need to go and see Rosalie today," I said, sitting down opposite Bella.

"Why didn't we go yesterday?" she asked.

"You seemed really tired out yesterday, I didn't think you'd be up to it, so I thought we'd go today instead, once you'd had some sleep and stuff. Plus, Rosalie was on some sort of date all of yesterday, so she wouldn't have answered if I'd called anyway." Rose had told me last week not to call her today, as she was taking the day off to spend with her new boyfriend, and so would neither be in the office nor have her phone on.

"Okay. Don't you have to work?" she asked.

"I'm unfortunately ill this week," I said solemnly.

"Edward," she said disapprovingly. "You don't have to stay home for me, you're losing money."

I coughed weakly. "See? Besides, I'm going to get Rosalie to arrange the trial for this week, so we need to help her prepare for it thoroughly."

She frowned at me. "I'll be fine, you go."

"No," I said simply, starting on my fried eggs.

"Stop being a jackass and go to work."

I carried on eating, ignoring her, and she reluctantly gave up and carried on eating as well when she realised that I wasn't going o give up on this one.

"I was thinking that we could go food shopping and pick up the kind of stuff that you like to eat," I said after a while.

"Okay, that sounds good," she said.

"Also, I can't remember if I told you this yesterday or not, but while you're here, I want you to treat it as your own place, you know? Eat whenever and whatever you want, you can use the phone, shower, TV, kitchen anything whenever you want, you don't have to ask. This is your home as well now," I said, ashamed that I'd forgotten to say it yesterday.

"Thanks Edward," she said, looking genuinely touched.

"No problem. Oh, and by the way; I really am glad that you're staying here," I added, looking down at my plate.

"Me too," she said, sounding happy. I chanced a glance, and she was also staring at her plate, but was sporting a huge grin.

We finished up breakfast, and Bella went to get ready to go while I cleaned up. Once I was done, I took a quick shower and put on some jeans and a T-shirt, brushed my teeth and went into the living room to wait for Bella, who still wasn't done.

"Edward?" she called.

"Yeah?" I called back.

"Can you come here for a minute please?"

I walked into her room to see her sitting on the bed dressed in some new sweatpants that seemed to fit her and a bra. "Could you do up the bra clasp please? I can't reach it."

"Sure," I said, walking over and doing it up for her. "Is that what's taking you so long?" I laughed. "Why didn't you call me?"

"I thought I could manage," she huffed. "Could you put the T-shirt on as well please?"

I took the long sleeved pink shirt from her and helped her get it on. I offered to brush her hair for her as well.

I brushed it through thoroughly, until it was completely tangle free and sleek. "Do you have anything to cover the marks on your face with? Not that you look ugly or anything, it's just that it might draw attention to you and if the cops see them..." great, I was digging myself into a hole.

"It's fine, I know what you mean. Alice bought me a foundation, it's on the dresser," she said, and I went and got it for her, before waiting patiently for her to apply it. She covered up the marks fairly quickly, putting several layers of foundation on.

"How do I look?" she asked.

"Beautiful," I said, and I could've sworn that under all of that foundation she blushed crimson red. "Do you need to use the bathroom before we leave?"

"I'm good, I did all that first and brushed my teeth," she said. "Could you get some tennis shoes out of the closet though please? I think Alice put them out on the shelf, she bought me way too much stuff."

I went to the closet, and on the bottom shelf were at least twenty pairs of shoes, in various colours and styles. "Which tennis shoes?" I asked; there were three pairs.

"Just the white ones," she said. "I told you she bought too much."

"No no, Alice loves to shop. She was practically in heaven when I told her to buy you stuff. Trust me, for Alice, the amount she's bought makes her seem like she has amazing self restraint. Normally we can't fit it all into one closet," I laughed.

Suddenly, there was a knock at the front door.

"I'll just go answer it," I said to Bella.

On the other side of my front door was stood Jasper, holding an enormous bunch of lilies.

"Hey Jasper," I said, confused.

"Edward," he said. "These are for you," he winked, pouting.

"What the fuck dude?" I said, as he rolled around laughing.

"I'm sorry, your face was just priceless!" he said. "Alice told me about Bella, and I thought I'd stop off and see how she is."

"Thanks man," I said. "She's in the guest bedroom."

I let him go in alone, giving them a moment alone. A few minutes later, Jasper walked back out.

"Thanks again Jazz," Bella called. "They're lovely!"

"No problem Bella darlin'," he said. Fucking ladies man.

"I have to get to work, see you later," he said to me. "Bye Bella, take care!"

"Bye, I love you Jasper!"

"Love you too," he chuckled, walking back out, whistling as he left. "Oh Edward?" he said, coming back in. "I just remembered, I don't think Emmett knows what's going on yet, do you want me to mention it?"

"If you see him then that'd be great," I said. "Bye Jasper."

I shut the door behind him, and went back to a beaming Bella, looking at the beautiful, expensive flowers.

"Jasper's lovely," she said.

"He's a great guy," I said. "I don't think I have a vase for the flowers, so do you want me to put them in the kitchen sink, and we can buy a vase?"

"That sounds great," she said.

I helped put the tennis shoes on her feet, put the flowers in the kitchen sink which I half filled with water, and we left to go to the grocery store. I locked the door behind us, and we walked slowly to the car; Bella, because she couldn't walk properly, me to walk alongside her.

Finally we reached my beloved Volvo, and I helped Bella in, before running round to get in myself.

The drive to the store was quiet, but not in an awkward way; it was more of a companionable silence, with each of us in our own train of thought.

The minute we got into the store however, that all changed. For some reason, we both went into a really stupid mood, just generally messing around and laughing at stuff that wasn't even funny. Basically, we were acting drunk, just minus the alcohol.

We zipped around the store with our shopping cart, piling it high with a random mix of things; fruits, vegetables, tinned soups, bread, pasta, eggs, flour, juice, biscuits, coffee, everything was getting thrown in, and we even managed to remember the vase, buying five for good measure.

We finished shopping quite quickly, due to the speed at which we'd hustled around, and we decided to stop off at Rosalie's office on the way home.

We waltzed straight through reception, ignoring the receptionists who were calling after us, and then past the secretary, who also tried to stop us, but we carried on. It was only too late that we realised why we had been asked to stop and wait when we opened the door to her office, and were met with Rosalie and some guy writhing around on the floor.

"Oh dear Lord!" I shouted, before shielding Bella's eyes. Not a smart move, seeing as I had nothing left to shield my own eyes with.

"Shit," Rosalie muttered, getting up.

"Whoa! Cover up a bit before you get up Rose!" I said, burying my head into Bella's hair.

"Why not Eddie? I'm not hot enough for you?" I could hear the smirk in her voice.

"Nope, just that I see you like a sister, and I'm not the incestuous kind," I said.

"What the fuck is he doing here?" I heard the guy mumble, in a voice that sounded familiar.

"Shut up, go in the bathroom," Rosalie hissed.

"Emmett?" I said incredulously.

"Who's Emmett?" Rosalie asked casually. A bit too casually. "This is Bill."

"Oh sorry, my mistake, I thought you were someone else. Hey Bill," I said, playing along.

"Hey," Emmett said, deepening his voice.

"Cut the crap Em, I know it's you," I snapped.

"Who's Em?" he said, in that ridiculous voice.

"Either own up or I'll look at you," I threatened; for the record, it was an empty threat. I don't swing that way.

"Fine! It's me!" he said, sounding worried that I would look at his still naked form lying on the floor, judging by where his voice was coming from.

"Hurry up and put some clothes on so I can talk to you two," I said.

"What the fuck do you think I'm doing?" Emmett said, sounding pissed. The minute he finished talking, I heard a massive thump.

"Did you put both legs in the same trouser leg again?" I smirked.

"Piss off," he said. "I only did that the one time, and I was drunk."

"You'd had half a beer!"

"Yeah, as I said; drunk," Emmett said.

"You and I both know that you can drink a full twelve pack yourself and still only be tipsy," I pointed out. "You were fucking sober."

"Shut the fuck up, I'm done," he grumbled, and I uncovered Bella's eyes and dared a peak myself.

True to his word, Emmett was dressed and sat next to Rosalie on the couch.

"Couldn't you two wait?" I complained, walking over to the window and throwing it wide open. "The whole fucking place stinks of sex!"

"This is a fucking place? As in a place in which to fuck?" Emmett smirked, taking my words literally. Dirty bastard. "Is that why you two are here?"

"Shut up Emmett," I said, as he and Rosalie began to laugh and Bella blushed, this time through the foundation. "We'll talk about you two later. Right now, this is more important, so Emmett piss off."

"Is it about Bella and shithead?" he asked.

"Yeah, it's fine you can stay," Bella said. "You helped as well."

"Aww, Bella babes-"

"Babes?" she said, eyebrows raised. "Don't ever say that again."

Emmett laughed loudly, before walking over and hugging her.

"Ouch!" Bella said, and Emmett let go instantly.

"I'm sorry!" he said, looking panicked. "What did I do? Did I hug you to tight? Because I do that a lot, shit, I'm sorry!"

"No, it's not you," Bella said, holding onto her waist.

"That's why we're here," I said to Rosalie.

"I think I should wash my face," Bella said.

"Good idea," I said. "Do you need a hand?"

Bella nodded, and we went into Rosalie's bathroom. Bella began to wash all of the foundation away, scrubbing at her face with her palms, as the bruises and swelling slowly revealed themselves. Once all of the foundation was off, she asked me to take off her T-shirt, to reveal all of the bruises and cuts, which had gotten darker and more grotesque overnight.

I led her back to the main office, and Rosalie and Emmett both gasped when they saw her.

"Beautiful, right?" Bella said sarcastically.

"When did this happen?" Rosalie asked.

"Day before yesterday," Bella said. "Victoria told James that she saw Edward at the house when you two came to talk to me, and he flew back early, pretty annoyed by the fact that I was apparently having an affair."

"And he did all that?" Rosalie look aghast as Bella nodded.

"Why didn't you tell me yesterday?" Rosalie said angrily, rounding on me.

"What? You told me not to disturb you!"

"But this was important!" she shouted, throwing a nearby folder at my head, which I was unable to dodge quickly enough.

"Have you seen a doctor?" Rosalie asked.

"Yeah, we went to the hospital yesterday, and I'm going back tomorrow. They checked me over and made a record of my injuries that can be used in court," Bella said as I rubbed my head where the folder had hit me.

"Good. Have you taken any photos?" Rosalie said.

"We talked about it," Bella started. "But we haven't taken them yet, we wanted the bruises to show up clearer."

"Okay, well I would take them today at some point, either later at home or I can do them for you later. I'm assuming that he's going to court now?"

"Obviously Rosie," Emmett said, rolling his eyes. "Because if Bella doesn't, then I'm going to come clean about the club myself."

"I don't really have much else choice, not after this," Bella shrugged.

"Okay, great. Do you want to get your clothes back on, and we'll discuss some details of the case. I'll get on the phone to someone I know who can be your lawyer, I can't do it myself, for reasons I told you about, but this other guy's really good as well," Rosalie said, speaking quickly as usual. "Can you two guys act as witnesses to the injuries, the club and James' initial confession?"

"Of course," I said, at the same time that Emmett said "Hell yes!"

I helped Bella back into the shirt, and we all sat down around the table.

Rosalie got Bella to recount the entire incident with James, and at several points throughout I wanted to leave. I could see Emmett clenching his fists as well, and knew that given half a chance, we would rip him apart, limb by limb.

Once everything was recorded, Rosalie talked through some general law stuff with Bella and went through everything about the case with her, so that nothing would come as a shock to her in the courtroom. Rose pulled out every piece of evidence, every document that she had and showed it to Bella. Bella knew about most of the stuff already, but there were small things that came as a slight surprise to her.

Rosalie then rang up the other lawyer, Seth Clearwater, and Bella spoke to him briefly, and then Rosalie started up on stuff about the case again, checking and rechecking every detail.

She then placed a call to one of her friends in the police, and had James arrested and held in state custody, spoke quickly to his lawyer, spoke to the local judge, and soon a court date was set for a week today. Rosalie explained to the judge that this was a serious charge with several separate sub charges involving various people, and the judge put aside at least a few weeks to hear all of the evidence.

Luckily Bella would only need to be there for the first few sessions, as the charges that affected her were being taken care of first, so it wouldn't drag on for too long for her.

Finally, when all of the necessary arrangements had been made, we all headed to our own respective houses. It was pitch black outside, and the air was cool as we walked back to the car.

We discussed the case on the way home and what would happen. I could tell that Bella was nervous as hell about it, but she acted calm. Soon we were home, and I parked the car quickly. I grabbed all of the shopping bags, which was not easy seeing as we'd bought anything and everything we could fit in the cart, and we took the elevator up to our floor.

"What do you want to eat?" I asked as I dumped the shopping on the living room floor.

"I don't mind. Shall I cook?" she asked.

"You don't have to," I said, going into the kitchen to put her flowers in a vase.

"But I want to, you've done so much for me," she said.

"Don't be silly," I said. "How about you sit at the kitchen table and tell me what to do and I'll cook it?"

"But then you're doing all the work," she argued.

"Nope, because you're going to be doing all of the chopping," I said. "You can do that sitting down. All I'm going to be doing is literally stirring."

"Okay," Bella agreed. "Let me just get changed first."

"Do you want a shower?" I was finished with the flowers by now, and put them in her room.

"Would you mind?" she asked.

"Not at all. Shall I help?"

She nodded, and I led her into my bathroom. "Shower or bath?"

"Shower, it's quicker," she said. "Actually, bath."

"What changed your mind?" I grinned.

"Nothing, it's just that you would get soaked helping me with a shower," she laughed.

"I have an idea," I said. "Shower will be fine."

"Sure?"

"Yep," I said. I switched on the shower so that the water could heat up, and left Bella for a few minutes.

I went into the bedroom and started looking through my wardrobe for my swimming trunks. Finally I found them at the bottom, and changed into them, leaving my upper body bare.

"Ready?" I called.

"Yeah," she said, and I went in.

Bella had already taken off her sweatpants, but she still couldn't stretch too much, so I helped her take off her shirt and underwear, not peeking at all.

I got into the shower with her, and leaned her back against my torso, my arms securely around her waist, letting the water run over us both gently. After a few minutes, she turned around to face me and wrapped her arms tightly around my body, pulling me closer to her. I could feel every part of her gorgeous body moulded to mine, and the feel of her perfect body started to give me a bit of hard on. After all, I am a guy, and if a naked woman begins to get too close, it takes its toll on the body.

I started to think about anything disgusting to try and get it to calm down, and eventually I managed to get the problem under control, however not before Bella got the chance to say "Calm down there lover boy", much to my embarrassment.

I burrowed my head into the crook of her neck, placing soft kisses there. I ran my hands up and down her arms and back, and her fingers found their way into my hair, running it through her fingers.

The shower was turning into something a bit more sensual than was appropriate, judging by the amount Bella had been through just the day before, so I grabbed the 2-in-1 that we'd bought and began to lather it into her hair.

She rested her forehead against my chest as I worked the bubbles into her hair. When I was done, I reached up to grab the shower head to rinse it off, but she put her hands on my shoulders, stopping me. She pushed on them a little bit, trying to get me to bend down a bit. I kneeled on the floor of the shower, my face level with her smooth stomach, still swollen. I placed a gentle kiss on it, before craning my neck to see what she was doing.

She picked up the bottle of 2-in-1 and began to lather it into my hair gently, her nails scraping my scalp. She slowly rubbed it in as I kissed her stomach and moaned at the feeling of her massaging my scalp.

All too soon she was done, and I stood back up to rinse us both off. As I washed it out of her hair, her arms snaked around to my back, and she began to lazily trace patterns with her fingers. Once her hair was done, she pushed me back down again, took the shower head off of me, and began to wash the bubbles out of my hair, massaging my scalp again. Once she was done, she pulled my head against her stomach, and kept one hand running through my hair as the other kept me pressed against her.

"Thank you for everything Edward," she said quietly.

"Hey, you don't have to keep on thanking me, I like looking after you," I said.

"Promise me that you won't leave me alone," she said, her voice suddenly becoming pleading, desperate and shaking.

"Never," I promised, getting to my feet. She had tears in her eyes, and I kissed away them as they fell. She began to sob loudly, pressing her hands over her mouth and screwing her eyes up, trying to stop. I pulled her towards me, holding onto her tightly, letting her cry it all out. In a way I was quite relieved that she was able to express her emotions; I had seen loads of patients in the past where after a tough upheaval they became emotionally withdrawn.

She cried for what seemed like an age as I held her tight and rocked us back and forth. When the tears began to die down, I quickly put shower gel on both of us, gave a final rinse, and got us out of the shower.

I helped Bella get dressed, and lay her in her usual place on the couch, before dressing myself and ordering another pizza; I didn't think Bella would be up to helping cook, and I didn't want to ask her to.

We ate in silence, with the occasional muffled sob escaping Bella. Neither of us ate much, no longer hungry, and we just picked at the pizza and took small sips of the free coke that had come with the order.

When we were both done, I lay down on the couch, with Bella wrapped up in my arms next to me. I threw a blanket over us, and waited for Bella to fall asleep, before moving her to her own bed.

The night passed in the same way as last night, with Bella waking up frequently from nightmares, and me running the risk of bodily harm whilst trying to wake her up and comfort her four times during the night, not including the times I was awoken by her well aimed, powerful kicks. This experience would probably leave me infertile.

The next morning, I woke up before Bella again, checked my face for any nosebleeds, and made us breakfast, before going to wake her up so that we wouldn't be late for the appointment at the hospital.

Bella was fine in the morning, apart from the dark circles around her eyes, and seemed embarrassed of her episode in the evening, and apologised profusely for it.

"Don't worry about," I said, trying to think of a way to lighten the situation.

"No, I must have looked awful, and I probably freaked you out-"

"Bella," I said, cutting her off. "Don't worry about it, okay?"

She went silent and carried on eating her toast. I got ready and then helped her to get ready, before driving us to the hospital.

The roads were empty, so we reached there in no time at all. I parked the car as close to the entrance as I could, and we walked slowly into the lobby.

"Hi," the receptionist said. "Bella Denali?"

"Yes," Bella said, smiling. "How did you guess?"

"I remembered you from the other day. I've been told to let you straight through, can you remember which examination room you were in last time?"

Bella nodded.

"Good, just go straight through," the receptionist said.

"Thanks," I called back, as we went through to examination room.

Bella was making herself comfortable on the couch, just as the doctor walked in.

"Hello," the doctor said pleasantly as he walked in.

"Hi," Bella and I said at the same time.

"So same procedure as last time, we'll give you another thorough check over," the doctor said, looking at his file. "And then we'll take an ultrasound of your stomach, as well as a urine sample to check for any kidney or liver damage. Finally, we will conduct a few x-rays, just to make sure that you have no minor or even major fractures or breaks."

"Sounds good," Bella said.

"All right then. The female doctor is on her way, so if you'd like to get yourself ready, I'll wait outside," the doctor said, stepping out.

"I'll go as well," I said.

"You can stay, I don't mind," Bella said. "You've seen it all anyway."

"I know, but if I stay and take a proper look then I'll want to go and beat up the fucker, and there'll be nothing to stop me," I said as I left.

"Is she ready?" the doctor asked.

"Not quite," I said. "I'm going to grab a coffee while you guys take a look, I know from last time how long these things can be."

"Okay Edward, take your time," the doctor said kindly.

I made my way over to the nearest coffee machine and paid for a thin, watery cup of what was advertised as coffee but quite frankly looked like strained shit.

I drank it anyway, adding several cubes of sugar to make it taste better. I drank it slowly, trying to bide my time, until I decided that it had been long enough and went back to the examination room.

I paced around for another fifteen minutes before the doctor and Bella stepped out.

"Okay, so if you head down to the examination room down the hall, they can perform the ultrasound for you," the doctor said.

"Thank you," Bella said.

"You're welcome. Also, by the time your ultrasound is done, your results for the urine sample should be done, so I'll ask them to be emailed to the nurse doing the ultrasound, is that okay?"

"That's fine," Bella said. "I'll see you in a few weeks then."

"Yep. Bye guys, take care," he said.

"You too doc," I said as Bella waved.

We walked down the hall together. "How was it?" I asked.

"It was okay, they made a detailed report of all of my injuries and took some photos and stuff. The first thing he did was send me out for a urine sample to send to the lab," Bella explained. "Everything seems normal so far."

"That's good," I said.

"Yeah. Can you stay there for the ultrasound?" Bella asked.

"If you want me there then sure," I said.

"Good, because I've never had one and you need to hold my hand," Bella said cutely.

"Bella, it won't hurt," I laughed.

"I know that," Bella said, sounding annoyed. "Apparently the gel is freezing though."

I looked at her for a moment to see if she was being serious, before I exploded with laughter.

"What?" she said. "It's true!"

"Living with a psycho, no problem. A little bit of cold gel and you can't take it!" I guffawed.

"Shut up," Bella said, smacking my arm. "Or I'll change my mind."

"How would you handle the gel alone?"

"Edward, shut up."

By now we'd reached the examination room, and a nurse was stood outside to usher us in.

"Lie down on the couch and pull your shirt up as high as you can," the nurse ordered.

"Shall I just take it off?" Bella said.

"If that's okay, then that would be more helpful," the nurse said, looking bored as hell.

I helped Bella get her shirt off and she got up onto the couch. I pulled a chair over and sat next to her, holding her hand.

The nurse had firmly shut the door and came over, grabbing a tube of something off the table.

"This is the gel," she announced, as though we were stupid. "It might feel a bit cold."

She squirted some onto Bella's stomach.

"Shit!" Bella said, her grip tightening on my hand.

"Too cold?" I asked, trying to keep a straight face.

"Hell yes," she said, as the nurse gave us disapproving looks.

She grabbed hold of the probe and moved it over Bella's stomach. The computer screen on which the image was being transmitted was facing away from us, so I couldn't see anything on it.

The nurse continued moving it around Bella's stomach and abdomen, getting slightly lower. She suddenly paused and seemed to look closer at the screen.

"Excuse me for a moment," she mumbled, before leaving the room.

Bella looked at me nervously. "What was that all about?"

"I don't know," I said, equally confused.

A few minutes later the nurse came back in, followed by the doctor we had just seen. "Hello," he said. "Didn't expect to see you again this soon," he joked.

He followed the nurse to the computer screen as we greeted him again, and looked closely at the screen as the nurse had just done. He nodded to her, before turning to us.

"Everything is fine, there is no internal damage. However, is there anything we should know, medically?"

"Not really," Bella said.

"Okay, well then, let me be the first to congratulate you," he said, beaming widely. "It seems that you are pregnant."

"What?" Bella said wide eyed.

"Yep, approximately ten weeks if I'm not mistaken," the doctor said as the nurse walked out, tight lipped as ever.

I was in shock; not only had the bastard fucked up her life, but he had made her pregnant, fucking up everything. Now she had to keep in contact with him for the child's sake, and knowing Bella she would. My mind was going into overdrive.

"Your little miracle baby!"

* * *

**Shock horror! Uh oh, things are really starting to heat up, and the shit is really beginning to hit the fan!**

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	23. Chapter 23

**Here it is folks, the next chapter!**

**First of all, I'm really sorry for the long delay, but I've had a lot on at the moment, there's been loads of exams and stuff, but now I should be back on track and back to fairly regular updates :D**

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******Enough talking by me, let's get on with it!**

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* * *

**BPOV**

My mouth was suddenly dry.

"What?" I croaked.

"You're pregnant Bella," the doctor said again. "You didn't know?"

I shook my head.

"That's not possible, I'm on the pill," I said. "Plus, I've still been having my periods."

"Could you have missed a pill? Missing even one can have a huge impact."

"No, I've never missed one," I said stubbornly.

"Maybe you can't remember missing it, what time of the day do you normally take the pill?"

"The evening."

"Maybe you could have been drunk or busy and forgot to take it without realising? As for the periods, were they regular?"

"No, they were very irregular and lighter than usual," I said. "Even with the pill. But that doesn't mean anything."

"Well it's very common for women to still experience periods in the first trimester. Women have even been known to menstruate up until the seventh month of pregnancy and still give birth to a healthy child. There's nothing to worry about. Personally, it's miraculous that the baby survived, judging by the amount of trauma that you faced. It's very rare that a foetus survives even after a small fall, let alone this much strain."

I'd gone completely silent.

"Ah. I'll err...give you two a moment," he said delicately, leaving the room.

I looked over at Edward, a thunderous expression on his face.

"Edward," I said, and he turned to look at me, his eyes hard. "What do I do now?"

"I don't know Bella," he said flatly. "How did this happen? Didn't you use contraception or anything?"

"I'm on the pill, you heard me tell the doctor. For a while we used condoms, but then James said that he didn't like them, and would pay me more if we didn't use them," I admitted. "We were both clean, and he said that he'd had his tubes tied years ago."

"Bullshit," Edward muttered.

"Edward, there's a chance that this baby could be yours," I pointed out, as the thought hit me. "I mean, how long ago did we sleep with each other?"

"Bella, think logically. We had sex once, how many times did you have it with James at around the same time?" he said. "There's more chance of Africa sliding off the earth than of that child being mine."

I knew what he said made sense, but I refused to believe it; there was always a chance that this baby was Edward's.

"There's still a chance though," I argued. "We could do a paternity test on the baby."

"No," Edward said suddenly. "Those things can severely harm the baby. I didn't want Lauren to take one. We'll just wait and see when James's baby pops out of you."

I still refused to believe him, instead changing the subject.

"How does this affect the case?" I asked.

"I don't know," he said. "We'll need to talk to Rosalie. Personally, I think we should keep it quiet and not bring it up."

"Can we do that though?" I asked.

"I don't know, we need to talk to Rose," he repeated. "How do you feel?"

"Scared," I said.

"You'll be fine," Edward said, grabbing hold of my hand. "I'll help you through pregnancy if you want."

"Thanks Edward," I said. "For everything."

"Not at all," he said, with a grin that didn't quite reach his eyes.

"So ten weeks, that means I will be due around..." I paused, trying to do the maths in my head.

"Around the end of March," Edward said. "I think."

"That sounds about right, because it's the thirtieth of August today, and that would put the date of conception at around the middle of June," I said, working it out quickly. "Can you remember when we had sex?"

"Nope," Edward said quickly, turning away and looking out of the window. "I can't believe that you're having his baby."

"Everything will work out fine," I said, trying to convince myself that what I said was true.

"How do you know that?" Edward demanded, turning around and staring at me, fire raging in his eyes. "How do you know your life is going to get better, or that everything will be perfect?"

"I don't," I said honestly. "But if I think it enough, maybe it will happen."

Edward looked annoyed. "Things don't just happen, Bella. You need to make them happen yourself, and in this case, there isn't anything you can make happen yourself."

"Edward, will you just stop being such a pessimist!" I yelled. "Don't you think that I know that no matter what I do, I'm screwed? Don't you think I see the mess that my life is? So excuse me for allowing a little hope into my heart!"

"Hope is the worst illness," he said angrily. "It settles into our hearts and eats us from the inside. The worst thing you can do right now is hope."

"Edward, if you don't want to help me, just tell me, I won't hold it against you or anything, but don't fight with me like this," I said.

"I'm just angry at James and shocked," he said, his voice quieter. "I never expected this to happen and mess everything up."

"Well 'this' did happen, and it happened to be my child! You don't have to talk about it with such disdain, and I'm sorry if my unborn child is such an inconvenience to you!"

"Hey, that's not what I meant and you know it!" Edward said.

"No I don't!" I said. "Because that's exactly how it sounded Edward."

"I meant that the baby is going to make the case slightly more complicated, but I never called it a complete inconvenience," Edward said.

"You might as well have done," I muttered angrily.

"And why would I have done that? This baby is half yours, and nothing that is a part of you could be an inconvenience," he said smoothly, making me blush and feel embarrassed for snapping at him.

"Sorry I snapped at you," I said.

"It's okay," he said. "You're pregnant; you're allowed to get annoyed."

"If this is what I'm like after the first few months, I hate to think what I'll be like nearer to the end of the pregnancy," I said.

Edward laughed. "You'll be fine. Congratulations by the way."

"Thanks," I said.

Although Edward was smiling, the smile didn't quite reach his eyes, and his tone was still off. I could tell he wasn't happy at all, but I didn't want to say the wrong thing and make him angry again.

Edward still looked angry as he drove us home, his knuckles white from gripping the steering wheel so hard, and his unfocused eyes looking straight ahead. He hardly spoke to me the whole way.

"Are you annoyed at me?" I sighed eventually, unable to bear the awkward silence any longer.

His head whipped round, and his eyes bored into mine, full of surprise. "Why would I be annoyed at you?"

"I don't know," I said. "You looked so angry, and in the hospital as well, and you're barely talking." It suddenly sounded stupid when I said it out loud.

"I'm not annoyed at you Bella," he groaned, running a hand through his hair and turning his attention back to the road. "I'm just thinking about the effect this will have on the case, and how badly I want to go and beat up that fucker right now."

"Why?" I asked stupidly.

"Because he's put you in a really awkward position. I assume that you're keeping the baby?" he asked.

"Of course!" I said indignantly.

"Just making sure that I don't have to give you my anti-abortion speech," he grinned briefly. "But if you're keeping the baby, then technically as the father he has rights as well, and he could use the baby as a weird way to keep hold of you, because legally you would be obliged to keep in contact with him, a privilege which I'm sure he will fully abuse."

"Shit," I said. I hadn't thought of that.

"Which is why I think we should keep your pregnancy a secret," Edward carried on. "If it isn't mentioned in court, then obviously he won't know, and he can't pressure you to do anything because he won't know."

"Yes, but if we don't tell in court that I'm pregnant, then won't they find out anyway when they get my medical reports out?"

"Fuck it," he groaned. "Rose will think of something."

"Hopefully," I muttered, as Edward parked the car and we made our way into the building.

"What do you want to eat tonight?" Edward asked.

"Why don't we make something?" I said, as we got into the elevator.

"Okay," Edward agreed. "But you're sitting at the kitchen table."

"Fine," I mumbled, already trying to decide what to make.

By the time we'd gotten out of the elevator and gone into the apartment, I'd made up my mind.

"How does steak sound?" I asked.

"After all that thought, all you can come up with is steak?" Edward said, suppressing a laugh.

"I just really feel like steak," I argued. "With salad, and potatoes, and vegetables, and a sauce of some kind-"

"Whoa Bella, how much are you planning on eating?"

"Ooh, and garlic bread!" I said excitedly. "I am so looking forward to this dinner!"

Edward laughed at my enthusiasm. "Did you want a shower before or after dinner?"

"Before please, if that's okay," I said, slightly embarrassed. I knew that Edward wouldn't do anything, but I still felt self conscious and embarrassed at being so helpless; he'd think I was pathetic. If he didn't already.

"Of course Bella," he said. "I could do with one too," he said, lightening my embarrassment slightly.

We went into the bathroom, and Edward put his swimming trunks on, as usual, and showered me. My body felt sorer than it had ever done before; now that the bruises had fully formed, it hurt like hell to move at all.

Edward carefully and slowly washed my hair, the feeling of his fingers amazing. "I'm getting good at this," he laughed.

"You were good at it to start with," I said. "I don't know how I'm going to go back to washing it myself."

When my hair was done, Edward spread the shower gel across my body, paying slightly more attention to my stomach than usual. Once I was squeaky clean all over, he wrapped me in a towel and told me to go sit on his bed while he finished off.

Not long after, he came out, wrapped in just a towel around his waist, and helped me get dressed into my usual sweats and a tank top, putting his own sweats on while I tried to brush through my wet hair.

"Okay Bella, how do we start cooking this delicious meal?" Edward asked, leading me into the kitchen and sitting me at the table.

"First you move me. I don't want to sit on the table," I said. "It's too far away from the counter; I won't be able to tell what you're doing."

"Okay, no problem," he said, clearing a space on the counter, wiping it, and sitting me up on it. "Better?"

"Much," I laughed.

"So now that the most important job is done, then what?"

"You get us both a beer, but at the moment just juice for me."

He saluted, and walked over to the fridge, grabbing the orange juice and pouring it into wine glasses. "If you're not drinking, then neither am I."

"If you want to, go ahead, I don't mind," I said, taking a sip.

"Nah, I didn't really want a beer anyway," he said.

"Okay. Turn on the oven," I ordered. "Pass me two potatoes and a fork, and you can start on the salad."

With me telling Edward what to do, in just forty minutes we were tucking into juicy pan fried steaks, with melting garlic bread, a mushroom and onion sauce made with the juices of the meat and a salad with a mouth-wateringly tangy dressing.

"Oh my god," Edward moaned as he took the first bite. "This is delicious!"

"Thanks," I said absentmindedly. I'd been thinking the same thing for the past hour whilst looking at Edward's bare chest. He was only dressed in sweatpants, which were slung very low on his hips might I add.

We ate in a comfortable silence until both of the plates were completely clean and our stomachs were protesting against the constraints of our trousers.

"What's for dessert?" Edward asked, leaning back in his chair.

"I don't know, I'm full though, so I don't want anything," I said.

"Why don't we go clean up, and by the time we're finished we'll have worked up enough of an appetite for a small dessert?"

"Good idea," I said.

I fought valiantly, but Edward wouldn't let me wash up, despite the fact that he'd cooked most of the dinner, but I settled for drying, something which Edward wasn't happy about.

By the time we were finished, I was beginning to warm to the idea of dessert, so we raided the freezer and cupboards for anything we could use.

With our findings, we made delicious triple layer chocolate chip cookie and ice cream sandwiches, topped with whipped cream and a handful of raspberries.

"Problem," I said as I was about to tuck in.

"What?" Edward said, his sandwich inches from his mouth.

"My sandwich won't fit in my mouth."

"Oh. Break it up?"

"Yes, but then it's not a sandwich, is it?" I said.

"Do you want a knife and fork?"

"Nah, it's fine," I said.

"So why did you say it in the first place?"

"You're ice cream is melting onto your sweatpants, and I was going to see how long it would take you to notice."

"Shit!" Edward said, jumping up as I laughed.

"Relax," I said, rolling my eyes.

"Easy for you to say," he said. "You haven't got any on you."

He stopped for a moment and dipped his finger into his ice cream.

"What the fuck are you doing?" I said. "Shut up and eat the damn thing."

He came over to me and ran his finger down my nose, smearing ice cream all over my face.

"Prick," I said, taking apart my sandwich and sticking one of the cookies to his head.

"Bitch," he breathed.

"What did I do?" I said innocently.

He suddenly gave me an evil smirk, and picked up the rest of my sandwich from my plate.

"What are you doing?" I asked, concerned for the welfare of my sandwich.

"Nothing," he said, before licking my sandwich.

"Edward!" I said. "I really wanted to eat that!"

"Then you shouldn't have stuck half of it to my head," he said, as I snorted with laughter.

"You have to admit though, that was funny."

"Hilarious," he said dryly, before taking his apart and sticking it to my forehead, which stopped me from laughing, I can tell you.

He began to laugh at my expression.

"How old are you?" I asked.

"Never too old for this shit," he laughed, and I began to join in; what can I say, his laugh is infectious.

"You go get cleaned up," he said. "I'll make us some more."

"Damn right you will," I muttered, slowly limping to the bathroom. "Can we watch a film as well?"

"Sure, anything in particular?"

"Nope, just something good," I said.

I splashed water over my face, rubbing off the ice cream for my forehead. I stretched a bit too far while trying to get a bit off my neck, and ended up having to stand still for ages until the pain subsided.

When I was done, I dried my face quickly and went back to the living room, where Edward was sat on the couch with a plateful of ice cream and cookie sandwiches in his lap, his face clean and the DVD remote in his hand.

"What are we watching?" I said, sitting next to him and grabbing a sandwich.

"Paranormal activity," he answered. "I got this ages ago, but I haven't had a chance to watch it."

"Isn't that supposed to be really scary?" I said, trying not to sound as scared as I felt.

"Yeah," he said. "Why, you scared?"

"No!" I said quickly.

"Don't worry Bella, I won't let the ghosts and spirits get you," he laughed.

"Very funny," I said crossly. "I'm not scared."

I sat on the other end of the couch, my legs crossed and a cushion in my lap. Edward had turned all of the lights of in the apartment, so it was pitch black everywhere.

At the start of the movie I was fine. About half an hour in, and I could hear creaking doors, and had began to scream when something scary or unexpected happened, much to Edward's amusement. Not long after, I had somehow managed to worm my way into Edward's lap, the sandwiches were finished, and Edward had taken to shouting profanities and pulling me into his chest – sorry, bare chest, whenever he got scared shitless, and I was busy screaming.

"Turn it off!" I screeched, as the credits began to role.

Edward quickly turned the TV off, leaving us in total darkness. We were both breathing heavily.

"Shit," Edward said.

"Idiot, look who's scared now," I said.

"Shut up," he said. "Let's go to bed."

"Good idea," I said.

As soon as I had brushed my teeth, I lay down, still scared shitless because of the film.

"Edward," I called.

"What?" he mumbled from his own room.

"I can't sleep."

"Try harder."

"No you moron, the film scared the hell out of me, and it looks like there's someone outside my window."

There were weird shadows outside of my window, and as much as I knew they were just the city lights, they were still scaring me. A few times, it actually looked like someone was creeping around outside my window, and I got the horrid thought that James was waiting out there, even though he'd been taken into custody by now. And once a thought is in your mind, it continues to fester and refuses to leave again.

I heard him sigh, then swear, and then he came into my room holding a baseball bat.

"Bella there's no one out there."

"Are you sure?" I said. "Because I swear there was someone there."

"It was probably just the shadows of the trees," he said.

"Maybe. Could you leave my light on and pass me that notebook from the dresser please?" I said.

"This black one?" he said, holding it up.

"Yep, there's a pen as well, could you pass them both please?"

"Sure. I'll put the lamp on, then you can turn it off easily whenever you want, without having to get out of bed."

"Thanks."

"No problem. Goodnight," he called going back to his own room.

"Night," I said, opening up the book. It had been ages since I'd written anything, and decided that since I couldn't sleep, I might as well write for a while.

_SEPTEMBER 2006_

"_Wow Bella," Angela gushed. "I'm so happy for you!"_

"_Thanks Ange," I said, sipping my coffee._

"_This has all happened really fast!"_

"_I know, I can't believe that I'm getting married in a few weeks. But sometimes you just have to follow your heart, you know?" I said. I knew that I sounded ridiculously cheesy, but just hoped that Angela would buy it._

"_Of course," she said. "If he's the one, then why wait?"_

"_Exactly," I said._

"_Are you...a hundred percent sure thought?" she said, hesitating. "That he's the one?"_

"_Definitely," I said, sounding a lot surer than I felt. She still didn't look completely convinced. _

"_So..." she said, moving on. "Have you started planning for the wedding?"_

"_Not really," I said. "It's just going to be a small thing though."_

"_Sounds nice," Angela said politely._

"_Yeah. I was wondering, would you...would you like to be my chief bridesmaid?" I asked shyly._

"_I'd love to!" she beamed. "So I get to help with all of the planning?"_

"_Of course!" I said. _

_It had been two weeks since I had moved in with James, and we had already announced our engagement to everyone. _

_Before I'd left Angela's to go to the club, I'd told her that I'd gone for a work thing, so when I came back with James in tow, surprise doesn't even begin to cover Angela's reaction._

_She didn't seem to greet him too warmly, as if she instantly sensed something weird was going on, yet I could tell that she was making an effort for my sake._

_And she continued to make an effort for my sake the whole way through the wedding planning process, always being civil towards James and never questioning our relationship._

_She went with me to dress fittings, to see caterers, ministers, to choose a venue, to send out invitations, the lot._

_But the one thing she couldn't do was the one thing I didn't want to do: tell Jacob and Renee._

_A few days after our 'engagement' I called Renee to give her the news. _

"_Honey, do you love him?" Renee asked._

"_Yes Mom," I said dutifully._

"_And do you want to stay with him forever?"_

"_Of course," I said. "That's why I'm marrying him Mom."_

"_Well then honey, I'm so happy for you!" Renee sounded ecstatic._

"_Thanks Mom," I said, trying to sound happy._

"_I wish I could be there," she said wistfully._

"_Sorry Mom, I don't think it's a good idea," I said. _

"_Why not?"_

"_Because you're sick," I explained patiently._

"_There's nothing wrong with me! Nothing's stopping me from coming to my only daughter's wedding," she was beginning to get angry._

"_I'm sorry Mom. I'll send you all of the pictures, promise," I said, my eyes watering up. _

_On one hand, I really wanted my mom to be there; on the other, I was glad that she wouldn't be there to see the way I was wasting my life._

_After a heated discussion with my mom, I finally convinced her that it wasn't a good idea to come to New York for the wedding, and no, we couldn't host it in Forks, as James couldn't take enough time off work to allow for the flight. It sounded like utter bullshit, but Renee seemed to be believe it._

_The next call wasn't so smooth._

"_You've been there for a month! How the fuck could you have gotten engaged already?" Jacob demanded._

"_I love him," I said desperately._

"_You've had a busy month Bella," he snarled. "You got a job, managed to be promoted, made a shit load of money already, met a guy, got engaged, and you're now planning a wedding for two weeks time."_

"_So?" I said. _

"_So what exactly is your job in New York for which you have so much free time, yet are making so much money?" his tone was accusatory, and he sounded less than pleased._

"_Jake, listen-"_

"_No Bella, you are going to listen to me. There is something not right about this, your job, your wedding," he spat the words out. "So cut the crap and tell me what's really going on."_

"_Jake, you know what's going on," I said, tears pouring down my face. I hated lying to him._

"_No Bella, I don't. I don't know what's going on, and I don't know who this Bella is, because this isn't the Bella who left Forks a month ago. I don't know where she is."_

"_Jake, listen. I'm getting married in two weeks. Please, I need you here to give me away and take the photos back to Renee, and because...because you're my best friend. I need you Jake," I whimpered._

"_I'm sorry Bella; I just don't know who you are anymore. I'll stay and look after Renee, and we can carry on with our arrangement, but I don't want anything to do with this Bella. Not until you're back to normal."_

_As he hung up, it felt as though my heart was shattering, Jacob had been my rock, the person who I knew was looking out for me. Looked as though even those closest to us always gave up on us too. _

_And so two weeks later, I walked down the makeshift aisle in the small hall that James had booked, all alone, with just Angela guiding me ahead in her lilac bridesmaids dress. I followed her up the small aisle, said my vows, and made the journey back down the aisle as a married woman._

_Mrs. James Denali._

_There was probably a total of thirty people at the wedding, most of them James's colleagues; his parents had died years earlier, so apart from Tanya, who was also present, he had no family to invite. And so my wedding took place in a dingy hall, to a man I barely knew, surrounded by strangers._

_Not the way that I had ever imagined it to be._

A knock on the front door startled me, and I dropped my book and pen.

Who would be coming to visit at this time?

I got out of bed and walked quietly to Edward's room, going over to his bed, ignoring the shooting pain that was going up and down my back; I'd forgotten to take painkillers, and was now feeling the effects.

"Edward," I hissed, as the knocking got louder. "Edward!"

"What?" he mumbled.

"Get up!" I whispered loudly. "Now!" I began to hit him with pillows, and finally he opened his eyes.

"What's wrong? Are you okay?" he said sitting up, fully awake now and looking worried.

"Shh!" I said. "There's someone at the door."

"What the fuck?" he said. "It's one in the morning, who'd be coming now? How long have they been knocking?"

"Only a few minutes, but the knocking is getting louder and louder, I don't think they're going to give up," I said.

"Well should I answer it?"

"I don't know, at this time it's bound to be trouble, but I don't think they'll leave unless we open it," I said unhelpfully.

"Wait here," he said, grabbing the baseball bat again from the floor and going out to the living room.

He was back a second later.

"I looked through the peephole; it's some tall guy, I don't recognise him. What should we do?"

"Let's just answer it," I said. "Before they break down the door. I'll hide behind the door ready to knock them out if they try something."

"What? No way!" Edward said. "You're staying here!"

"No I'm not! Just because I'm pregnant, doesn't mean that I miss out on the fun stuff!"

"I think you've had enough fun stuff for a lifetime, don't you?"

"Stop wasting time, and let's go!" I said, leading the way into the living room and standing behind the front door, hidden from the visitors view, so if he tried anything funny I could spray the deodorant that was I was clutching straight into his eyes.

Edward carefully opened the door, keeping me hidden.

"Yes?"

"Edward Cullen?"

"That's me."

"I'm Oliver, Lauren's boyfriend. Leave my chick the fuck alone," he said aggressively, reeking of alcohol.

"Excuse me?" Edward said, sounding confused.

"You heard me. Stay. Away. You two have been spending too much time together lately, and I don't like it. So fuck off," he sounded drunk, and his words were slurring together.

"We're having a baby together," Edward said slowly, as if explaining something to a toddler. "I'm not just going to leave her alone during pregnancy, I need to sort out details with her and make sure that she's looking after herself and my child."

"Well don't," Oliver snarled. "I'm there for her, she doesn't need you around."

"Evidently you're doing an excellent job by leaving in the middle of the night to calm your insecurities."

The words were out of my mouth before I'd even thought about them.

Edward glared at me as Oliver asked what the noise was.

"Nothing," Edward said. "Just the ghost of my great aunt."

"Stop fucking with me man," Oliver said, his temper rising. "Who was it?"

"No one," Edward said, sounding exasperated. "Who would be here?"

Oliver seemed to consider this for a moment, before grabbing hold of Edward's neck and pulling him towards him.

"I mean it, stay away from her," he spat, releasing Edward.

"After the birth asshole," Edward said coolly, sounding unaffected by his near strangulation.

Oliver gave a final glare and stumbled off again, tripping several times.

Edward slammed the door shut behind him and rounded on me.

"What the fuck were you doing?" he demanded.

"Sorry, I guess I wasn't thinking," I said. "The words just popped out."

"Let's go back to bed," he sighed, running his hands through his hair.

"You should call Lauren and tell her to keep her boyfriend in check," I suggested.

"I don't think so," he said. "I'm a man, I can take it."

"Sorry, I'm allergic to bullshit," I snorted.

"I am," he said, flexing his muscles and making me drool.

"Breathe Bella," he laughed, and I snapped out of my trance.

"Side effect of the bullshit," I said. "I enter a state of withdrawal."

"Now who's talking bullshit," he smirked. "Come on, let's go to bed."

I fell asleep relatively quickly, but the nightmares started the minute my eyes drooped shut. I'd been having the same dream ever since that morning, over and over again, a repeat of James hitting and raping me, each time worse than the last, and more and more difficult to escape from him or wake up from each time.

I was woken by Edward several times in the night, rousing me from my nightmare, but the minute I fell asleep they'd be back again.

Edward had been coming into my bedroom every night to wake me up and comfort me, but when I woke up in the morning he'd be gone, so I had no idea whether he stayed the night with me or not, and I was too embarrassed to ask him.

The next morning after another sleepless night, I dragged myself out of bed and joined Edward for another delicious breakfast that he'd prepared for us.

He never mentioned the nightmares, and so neither did I, and so I just began to assume that maybe I'd imagined him there comforting me.

"We're going to see Rose again today," Edward said, breaking me out of my reverie.

"Okay," I said. "Does she know we're coming?"

"I sent her a text last night and she just replied, apparently she's free."

"When are you going back to work?" I asked. I felt bad about him taking all of this time off.

"When you're better, and don't even argue with me over it," he said.

I exhaled loudly. "I'm not happy about this."

"This is one of the few occasions that I'm going to put your happiness after common sense," he said, confusing me. Why was he normally so concerned about my happiness?

I didn't ask him about it though, not wanting to embarrass him, so I finished up eating and helped clean up while thinking of what to wear.

"Did you want a hand getting dressed again?" Edward asked.

"Yes please," I answered. "I still can't move much, and I certainly can't stretch enough to put clothes on."

Plus the fact that I loved the feel of his hands. It was going to depress me so much when I didn't have an excuse for asking him to touch me.

"No problem," he said. "You start picking out your clothes and I'll just finish up here."

"Okay," I said, walking slowly to my room. Walking wasn't so painful anymore, as long as I did it slowly and was careful not to trip. It was activities that required me to stretch that were problematic.

I picked out a simple pair of jeans a long sleeved blouse from my wardrobe and laid them out on my bed, along with a clean bra.

"Are you ready?" Edward called.

"Yep," I said as he walked over to where I was standing.

As usual, he closed his eyes and took off my tank top, before holding my bra out so that I could slip my arms through the straps. Once my arms were through, he did up the clasp and opened his eyes again.

He helped me into the rest of my clothes, before brushing my hair for me and slipping a pair of ballet shoes onto my feet.

"Thank you," I said, putting the usual layers of foundation on my face.

"Bella, you don't have to thank me for everything that I do," he groaned. "I honestly don't mind, I like helping you out. I'll just leave you to finish getting ready while I get changed myself."

"Okay," I said, as he walked out.

A few minutes later he was back, changed, hair combed, and freshly shaven, smelling heavenly.

"Ready to go?" he asked, and I nodded slowly.

We took the elevator down as usual to the parking lot, and Edward drove carefully, weaving in and out of the traffic expertly, a relaxed expression on his face.

A few minutes later, and he was parking his prized car outside the building, and we walked in, a lot slower than last time, hesitant of what we might find.

"It's almost 11am," Edward said. "Emmett shouldn't be here yet."

"Good," I said. "I don't want a repeat of last time."

Edward even went as far as to ask Rosalie's secretary if Emmett was here, and her secretary promised us that he wasn't, so we walked in freely.

Rosalie was sat at her desk poring over a pile of papers.

"Morning," Edward said cheerfully.

"Edward, Bella," Rosalie said. "Come in guys."

She got up from the desk and came and sat on one of the plush armchairs. Edward and I sat on the couch, Edward looking calm as ever, and me surely looking like a mess of nerves.

"Okay, what have you done to Bella?" Rosalie asked.

"What would I have done?" Edward asked, sounding offended.

"Well she looks pale, looks like she wants to throw up and is looking more nervous than a politician on coke."

"Am I really that obvious," I muttered quietly so that only Edward could hear, and I heard him laugh quietly.

"What was that Bella?" Rosalie asked, quick as a fox.

"Well..." I began. "I don't know how to explain, so I'll give you the scientific terminology."

"Okay," said Rosalie.

"I have a bunintheoven," I said as quickly as I could.

"What?" Rosalie looked confused. "You have a what?"

"Bun in the oven," I said, slower this time. "I'm pregnant."

Rosalie looked at me blankly. "Is this a joke?"

I shook my head.

"Congratulations!" she said, jumping up and hugging me tightly. "I'm so happy for you!"

"Thanks," I grinned.

"How far are you?" Rosalie asked.

"They think I'm about ten weeks through, so nearly at the end of my first trimester," I said.

"Is the baby James's?"

At this question my smile vanished. "It could be either James's or Edward's."

Rosalie didn't ask any more questions about the paternity, for which I was grateful.

"We were wondering how this affects the case," Edward said.

Rosalie sighed. "It's complicated. If the baby is James's, then the only problem is that he has rights. If it's yours Edward, then Bella could be accused of adultery, which is a Class B misdemeanour here in New York, so she could face a jail sentence, as I doubt that James would keep his suspicions of an affair quiet for Bella's sake."

"No way," I agreed. "James will definitely bring up the fact that it may not be his in court," I said. "He already thought that Edward and I were having an affair."

"Okay, well you need to appear in court in a few days time. I would say that the best thing to do is not to deny it if it's mentioned, but if it isn't, then don't bring it up yourself. If the paternity is questioned, tell the truth, but begin to talk about James's affairs as well."

"Okay," I said. It sounded logical, and I wasn't lying; normally, I wouldn't be bothered, but in court I'd be under oath.

Rosalie went over some last minute details about the case with me, ironing out any final issues and making sure that I was completely clear about everything.

About an hour later, we left, deciding that I understood everything and would be fine in court.

As we drove home, I thought about everything that I'd been through over the last few years and how the hell would soon be over. I would soon be a free woman.

"Bella," Edward said.

"Yeah?"

"Have you heard of someone called I. Swan? I've been meaning to ask for a while, I've just remembered."

"Why?" I bit my tongue to stop me from laughing.

"When I was looking through James's stuff, I came across some of his old documents, and the name I. Swan kept appearing as a regular payment, some person in Forks. I was wondering if he ever mentioned them."

"I. Swan?" I asked.

"Yep."

"Yeah, that's me," I said, watching Edward's face closely.

"I was being serious," he said, sounding annoyed.

"So was I."

"Bella, you're name begins with B, not I," Edward said.

"Oh really, I never knew," I said sarcastically. "No seriously, Swan was my maiden name, and my proper name is Isabella."

"Isabella?" he said, smiling slightly.

"Yeah, a horrid name I know," I said. "I never liked it."

"It's a nice name. It suits you," he grinned, as I began to blush.

"Shut up," I said, going redder still.

"Where the fuck is Forks?" he asked, changing the subject. "Next to spoons?"

"Very funny," I said dryly. "It's a tiny town in Washington, near Seattle."

"Wow, that's the other side of America," he said.

"You really are full of surprises today aren't you, I never knew half of the stuff you're telling me," I said.

"Shut up. I didn't think you were originally from round here, your accent's different."

"So is yours," I said. "Where are you from?"

"I grew up in Chicago before moving to New York to go to college," he said. "My parents decided to sell up and move a few years later as well."

I suddenly realised in that moment, that despite knowing Edward for a good few months, I barely knew anything about him.

"Why did they move?" I asked.

"I guess they just got bored of Chicago and wanted a change of scene," Edward shrugged. "They both grew up in Chicago and they'd been talking about moving for a while, and when it was time for me to start college it just sounded like a good time. They both loved city life; they just got bored, so moved from one big city to another."

"By your parents, do you mean..." I trailed off, trying to think of the best way to ask.

"Alice's parents," he said. "But I've always thought of them as my own parents, we're very close."

"It's nice that you had people who were so close to you," I said. "When my dad passed away I didn't really have anyone to act as a real father figure, I mean, sure there were guys who were close friends and who I looked up to, but they had their own kids and families to look out for. They didn't have the time to look out for me and their real kids, not that I blame them at all for that."

He gave me a funny look.

"What?" I asked, feeling self-conscious.

"Nothing," he said. "Just that you're far too understanding for your own good."

I didn't know how to respond to that, so I started to look out of the window, and was surprised to find that we were just pulling into our usual spot in the parking lot.

We got out of the car and Edward helped me walk into the building, insisting that he needed to help me, otherwise I'd 'fall and break something else".

When we reached the outside of the apartment, someone was sat on the floor by Edward's front door.

It was a young woman who looked around the same age as me, with platinum blonde hair and dark brown roots showing through, a face caked in make-up and a small baby bump.

"Lauren?" Edward said, sounding surprised. He walked over and offered her a hand, pulling her up to her stiletto encased feet.

"Who are you?" she barked at me in a snobby, nasal voice.

"This is my friend Bella," Edward said.

"Why is she here?" Lauren sounded pissed off.

"Because I invited her," Edward said, beginning to sound slightly annoyed. "It's none of your business who I'm friends with or what I do in my free time."

"Yes, but we are having a _baby_ together Edward," she said. "You need to be completely dedicated to me and the baby." She was beginning to sound ever so slightly whiny.

"Let's go inside and sort this out in private," Edward sighed, unlocking the door and motioning for us to go in.

Lauren stalked in, instantly throwing herself onto the couch.

"I'm sorry about this," Edward whispered to me.

"Don't worry about it," I said, following her in.

"Is she living here?" Lauren shrieked, jumping up off the couch and holding up one of my slippers that she'd found on the floor.

"Yes she is," Edward said. "Not that it's any of your business."

"And you didn't think to tell me?" Lauren sounded irate.

"Do you want a drink or something?" I asked sweetly, getting bored of talked about as if I wasn't in the room.

"No," Lauren said shortly, before turning to Edward. "I don't want my child in a flat with some random woman."

"Oh I'm not staying for long," I said. "This is just for a few weeks until I get back on my feet. I left my husband."

"Oh," Lauren said, surprise colouring her tone. "I see."

She still didn't sound particularly happy.

"I don't have to answer myself to you Lauren," Edward said. "Why are you here?"

"I just wanted to tell you that I have spoken to a doctor, and I am going to induce labour three weeks early; Oliver and I are flying out on holiday on the actual due date."

"What?" Edward shouted. "Are you mental? What if something happens to the baby? You're compromising the health of the baby so that you can go on holiday with your boyfriend, who, by the way, turned up here last night and assaulted me!"

"Edward, the baby is inside of me, not you, and I am going to give birth when it is most convenient for me!" Lauren screeched. "And as for Oliver, it isn't easy for him to see his girlfriend pregnant with someone else's child, can you blame him?"

I felt like my heart was in my mouth as Edward looked at me and said softly "No, I suppose I can't."

I couldn't breathe, locked in his intense gaze.

"Fine, do what you want," Edward said, releasing me from the powerful lock of his eyes. "No matter what I say, you're going to do what you want." He sounded defeated. "At least let me be there for the birth."

"Fine," she snapped. "I'll text you the exact date when I know it."

She began to make towards the door.

"Leaving so soon Laura?" I asked.

She graced me with an evil glare. "As fun as it has been Bessie, I have a boyfriend waiting to fuck the hell out of me."

"Wow, you're lucky," I said. "Do you do it with the lights off? That's the only way I can imagine such a good looking guy banging you."

"Shut the fuck up," she snarled. "Like you'll have so much experience, I bet you're still a virgin yourself."

"I'd rather be a virgin out of choice than default," I shot back. "And by the sounds of it, you were probably a virgin out of default."

"Aww, bless Bella and her virginal ass," Lauren said mockingly.

"I feel so sorry for your kid right now having to put up with you for nine months straight," I said. "I wouldn't be surprised if it's counting down the days until birth and praying that it doesn't catch something on the way out of you."

"Bitch!" Lauren said lunging for me, but Edward stepped between us and grabbed hold of us.

"I think you should leave, Lauren," Edward said firmly.

"With pleasure," Lauren said, stomping out.

"Well, she's nice," I commented.

"Yeah, so is pollution," Edward muttered, swinging the door shut behind Lauren.

"I didn't mean to offend your child or anything by the way," I said.

"None taken, I know," he said.

"Can we order in tonight, I really feel like a Chinese," I said.

"Sure," Edward said, picking up a menu from the stack that we'd collected over the last few days and handing it to me. "What do you feel like?"

"Chicken lo mein," I said instantly, without even having to look at the menu.

"Okay," he said. "I'll order it."

"I'm just going to go to my room until it comes, I've got a few things to do," I said, hobbling off, the pain in my ankle increasing with each step.

I sat down on my bed and grabbed my diary from under the pillow where I'd left it, and picked up where I'd left off.

_But despite the depressing wedding, I tried to keep my spirits up and act as a wife should._

_My house was spotless, my garden immaculate, and James always had a decent meal put in front of him. Whenever he needed me to accompany him to an event, I went out and bought a brand new dress, got ready and smiled and laughed as I made small talk with his colleagues. And at night, I was James's property, to do with as he pleased._

_I tried to be his perfect wife, hoping that what I lacked in pride I could make up for in my attentiveness to my husband._

_Jacob never called me, and I was too scared to call him, but the money that was paid into the account each month was regularly emptied back at the bank in Forks, and according to Renee, he still visited her regularly, and dropped Billy off at the hospital every morning, as he had promised. She assured me that he was well, and I carried on with the pretence that I spoke to him often. _

_I missed his friendship more than I thought I would, but each time I came close to dialling the number, I would chicken out and put it off until another day._

_After a few weeks, I'd managed to set myself into a rough routine, throwing myself into housework with such vigour that I could be kept distracted for a few hours._

_Never did I let James see my smile slip, even for a second, and as the months passed, we became comfortable with one another and seemed like I'd imagine any other married couple to be. _

_James constantly bought me expensive gifts, and treated me to sumptuous dinners at expensive restaurants. He even went as far as buying me a beautiful little shop to turn into a bakery, and started off my growing business, a business which I was never fully attached to; it wasn't that I didn't want it, because I did, I just didn't feel as though it was my business. After all, I'd practically had it handed to me on a plate, I hadn't worked hard for it at all like I'd dreamed I would. _

_Nevertheless, I kept working hard, counting down the days until I'd be free to go back to Forks._

_My life carried on in this pattern until I got a phone call a month after our first anniversary._

"_Bella? It's for you," James said, walking into kitchen with the phone._

"_Thanks," I said, taking it off him. "Hello?"_

"_Hello Mrs. Denali, this is Dr Philips here, your mother's doctor," a deep guy's voice said._

"_Is everything okay?" I asked._

"_Unfortunately, Renee's condition has been gradually getting worse over the last few days, and she is in extreme pain due to her allergy to morphine. Obviously, there isn't much else we can give her for pain relief, so she is finding the treatments very difficult. She has been repeatedly asking to commit PAD, Physician aid-in-dying, a form of assisted suicide. We originally ignored her comment, putting it down to the drugs we are giving her causing her to hallucinate or say things she doesn't mean, however she has begun to repeatedly ask, up to three times a day for the last week or so."_

"_What?" I asked, shocked. "Is that even legal?"_

"_Your mother originally asked for some form of euthanasia, however when she was informed that this was illegal, she conducted some research into the matter and found that PAD and assisted suicide are both legal in Washington. I refused to help her, and thought that I had better speak to you."_

"_But I spoke to her yesterday and she sounded her usual self!" I said, disbelief colouring my tone._

"_She...She's been asking that I help her die and inform you that her death was natural," he said, hesitating slightly._

"_Why would she do that?" I said, my voice getting hysterical._

"_She didn't want to hurt you. She's in a lot of pain right now Mrs. Denali, and if you agree with her, I will happily get another doctor to help, but I won't do it myself."_

"_No I do not agree!" I snapped. "You're phoning and asking me if I want my own mother to die? Of course I don't!"_

"_I understand that this isn't an easy decision to make, and I understand you anger, I really do," he said kindly. "I thought that I should phone you and let you know about the situation. Normally this is the patient's choice, however in this situation I don't think that the patient is in her right mind, and therefore can't make a measured decision; as you know, death is a permanent thing."_

"_Thank you," I said, feeling touched at his kind, fatherly tone and his thoughtfulness. "Well, what do you think? How bad is her condition?"_

"_Well, she's in a lot of pain, but she's well on the road to recovery. She'll obviously never be quite the same again, but she's got a much better chance of survival than most of our other patients," the doctor said._

"_Okay then, as much as she complains and says she wants to die, under no circumstances is she to commit assisted suicide, I don't care what she says. Unless I give my express permission, she is to continue with her treatment. I trust that you will make sure that this happens," I said._

"_Of course," the doctor said. "And I have to say, I completely agree with you. You've made the right decision."_

"_Thank you," I said. "Also, I'd like her to be put on suicide watch. Could you please phone me and give me updates every few weeks or so?"_

"_Sure," he said. "A wise decision I think. Those who really want to end their lives don't simply give up because someone said to them to do so. They generally want to try harder to defy the damned person prolonging their life. In suicide watch they'll take good care of her."_

_A while after I'd put the phone down, James came into the kitchen and asked what was going on, but I simply told him that Renee was getting slightly worse; I didn't want to go into details just yet. _

_Not long after, he went out for a night of drinking with his friends. The minute he had left, I picked up the phone again, bracing myself for the storm that was sure to follow._

"_Hello?"_

"_Jacob," I said, my heart warming at the sound of his gruff voice._

"_What do you want?" he said, his tone changing to a cold, hostile growl._

"_I've just had a call from Renee's doctor. Did you know that she's been asking to kill herself?" I said, my anger pouring out of me._

"_Yes I did," he said, and I felt a pang of jealousy; Renee had confided in Jake, but she couldn't talk to her daughter about her concerns? "And do you know why?"_

"_The pain," I said simply._

"_No," Jacob said. "How's your husband, Mrs. Denali?"_

"_He's fine," I snapped. "This has got nothing to do with him though, that's not what I asked."_

"_Oh, it's got everything to do with him," Jacob said. "How much did he pay for you?"_

_I couldn't breathe. _

"_What?" I choked out. "I don't know what you mean."_

"_You know exactly what I mean Bella," he said. "Renee found out about your whoring ways and couldn't bear the shame. Her only daughter, forced into prostitution to pay for her treatments, while she stays in a hospital bed 24/7, how do you think she's going to feel?"_

"_That's a load of crap," I said, trying to regain my composure._

"_No it isn't, and you know it," he snarled. "You joined a strip club in New York before marrying some rich guy who pays for Renee's treatment in exchange for sex and status! Why would you do that Bella?"_

"_Who told you this crap?" I asked. "It's complete bullshit; you know I'd never do a thing like that!"_

"_Obviously you would," Jacob said. "Why else would your husband tell your mother-in-law that you did?"_

* * *

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	24. Chapter 24

**Here it is folks, the next chapter!**

**About three weeks between updates this time...we're getting better! I'm sorry for the delay though, it still isn't as regular as I would hope, but RL can be weird sometimes.**

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**There's the usual warning for language, and also this is quite a long chapter, so it might take a while to read :P**

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* * *

**EPOV**

"Bella?" I called, wiping my hands on a towel. "The food's here!"

I'd laid out all of the food that had just been delivered on the kitchen table; everything was ready, I was just waiting for Bella.

"Bella?"

"Just coming," she said, her voice sounding distant and shaking slightly.

"Are you okay?" I asked.

"Yep," she said. I wasn't convinced, but I let it go. She'd tell me if she wanted to. "Just give me a minute."

A few minutes later she hobbled into the kitchen, looking if she's been crying.

"Sure you're okay?" I asked.

"Yeah," she said. "Of course. I'm so hungry!"

She almost sounded too enthusiastic, but I didn't press the matter.

We ate in silence. I was watching Bella out of the corner of my eye, as she pushed the food around her plate, seeming to have something on her mind. After eating just half of her food, she pushed the plate away from herself.

"I'm done," she said. "I'll eat the rest later or something, could you please put the leftovers in the fridge for me?"

"Sure," I said. "Do you want a shower and to watch a film?"

"Not today, I'm really tired out," she said. "Thank you though."

"Not at all," I said, confused; she always wanted a shower in the evening.

"Goodnight," she said, getting up and moving slowly towards her bedroom.

"Night," I said.

I watched her leave, her gait fragile, as if a tiny puff of wind would knock her over.

I sighed, and began to clean up; something was definitely wrong with Bella.

I tried to think back to before dinner, if I'd said anything to her that could cause her sudden subdued mood, but I couldn't come up with anything.

I just put it down to the pregnancy hormones and decided to watch Bella extra carefully over the next few days.

However Bella was like this for the next few days, barely talking or eating, but spending most of her time sleeping.

"Bella, do you want to go out somewhere tonight?" I asked on the fifth day like this. "You've been here about two weeks now, and we've hardly been anywhere. I don't want you to feel trapped."

"No thanks, I'm okay," she said.

"Are you sure? We could go watch a movie or go to a restaurant," I pressed, trying to get her to do anything other than sleep all the time.

"Not today," she said. "I feel really tired."

"Okay," I said, trying not to feel disheartened. "Well let me know when you want to go out somewhere."

"Sure," she said absentmindedly. "I think I'm going to go to sleep for a while, I'm really tired."

"It's only two o clock Bella," I said. "And you only woke up at eleven."

"I know, I just feel really tired," she said, stretching her arms.

She'd regained enough movement to be able to carry out most tasks herself by now; the bruises had faded, leaving just yellow marks on her porcelain skin. Her face looked almost back to normal, with the swelling gone and the bruises the same yellow as the others scattered across her body. Her broken ankle was the last thing that needed to fully heal.

"Bella, what's going on?" I asked.

"Nothing," she said, shrugging.

"Something is going on," I said, determined to get an answer today. "You've hardly been eating and you just sleep all the time. You haven't even been wanting to help cook."

"It's nothing Edward," she said sharply, getting up from the couch. "I'm going to bed."

I got up and walked behind her, picking her up bridal style, surprising her.

"Hey!" she yelped. "Put me down!"

"No," I said firmly, walking towards my bathroom. "We're going to have a shower."

"I can have a shower myself now," she argued.

"Yes, but you don't seem to want to. When was the last time you had one?" I demanded.

"Two days ago," she shot back. "I'm too tired to have on."

"You could have asked me to give you one," I said. "You know I don't mind."

"I'll have one myself this evening, just let me sleep for now," she begged.

"No," I said.

I set her down in the middle of my bathroom and stripped her down to just her underwear. She didn't protest as I pulled her clothes off quickly and stood her in the shower, starting up the hot water.

"Is the water temperature okay?" I asked.

She nodded.

"Okay, just give me a second," I said. I stripped my own clothes off, before joining her in the shower.

We showered in the usual way, just an innocent shower, nothing sexual about it as I washed her beautiful long hair and her gorgeous body as she stood still, making no effort to move away from my touch.

Once she was done, I wrapped her in a towel and told her to go and get dressed while I showered. I took a really quick shower, and put some comfortable sweatpants on, before running a towel through my hair.

I decided not to put a shirt on, deeming it too hot to wear one. Besides, I don't really like wearing a shirt when I'm relaxing.

"Bella?" I called, walking into her room.

She was sat, fully dressed, on her bed.

"What are you doing?" I asked.

"Nothing," she said. She was dressed in her usual sweatpants and tank top, her wet hair dripping onto her shoulders.

She was staring out of her window, a strange expression on her face.

"What are you thinking?" I asked.

She shook her head. "Nothing."

"You must be thinking something."

"No."

"Come on Bella," I said, frustrated. I walked over to her bed and sat next to her so that she was facing me and not looking out of the Bella. "Talk to me, maybe I can help you."

"I'm fine Edward," she said, moving to get up.

"No, you're not," I said, gently holding onto her waist and pulling her closer to me. "Bella, please talk to me."

I rested my forehead against hers, and her chocolate brown eyes looked up into my eyes.

"Edward," she sighed, her breath fanning across my face. "I said I'm fine."

"No, you're not, so stop giving me the bullshit that you are," I said, pulling away. "You won't talk, you won't eat, you won't leave the apartment, in fact, the only thing you _will_ do, is sleep!"

"I'm tired," she said. "What else am I supposed to do?"

"You're tired because you refuse to eat! You have no energy!" I said loudly. "It's a really hot day, yet you won't leave the apartment to do anything nice!"

"Why do you care so much?" she yelled. "I'm nobody to you, yet you are so bothered about my welfare? I understand, you couldn't save your mother, but that doesn't mean that you have to act like a hero to me!"

To say I was shocked would be an understatement.

"Is that what you think? That I'm making up for not being able to save my mother?" I yelled back. "Yes, I couldn't save her, but I'm not trying to make up for it through you!"

"Then what is it?" she shot back.

"Because I learnt from last time, that unless you have someone looking out for you, you can't make it through something like this alone. Who else did you have Bella?" I asked.

She went silent.

"So you felt sorry for me?" she said quietly, her voice cold.

"No," I said. "It's not a case of feeling sorry for someone. I saw someone who needed help, and I helped them. Big deal."

"What the hell do you think I am?" she screeched, standing up and facing me with her hands on her hips. "Some sort of project? A feel good activity that'll make you feel better about yourself?"

"No, it's not like that-"

"It's exactly like that!" she yelled. "You felt sorry for me, and saw me as a project, someone to save when you couldn't save someone who was the most important person in your world! What made you think that I needed your help?"

"When you fucking turned up at my front door and collapsed!" I shouted. "If you didn't want me help, then why did you come here in the first place? Because you didn't have anyone else to go to Bella, and you fucking know it!"

"I wasn't thinking straight!" she said. "I was barely conscious; I just went to the closest place that I could think of!"

"Yes, you came here! So I think you'll find that you do need my help!"

"No, I _did _need your help. Past tense!"

"What do you mean?" I asked, confused.

"I mean that I am leaving!"

She hobbled angrily over to her wardrobe and began pulling clothes out it, throwing them onto her bed.

"No, you're not!" I said angrily, through clenched teeth, getting up and putting her clothes back.

"Edward, let me go!" she said.

"No Bella, you're staying here, because believe it or not, you need my help!"

"No I don't you ass."

"Yes, you do."

"I said that I don't."

"Bella, can you just shut up? I want to help you!" I said, exasperated.

She did as I said, much to my surprise, and sat back where she'd been sitting before on her bed.

I put her clothes back in her wardrobe for her.

"I'm sorry," she said. "For the stuff I said."

"It's fine," I said.

"No, it's not. I didn't mean any of it, I don't know why I said it," she said looking embarrassed. "You've done so much for me, and I've been nothing but a bitch."

"No you haven't," I said, joining her on the bed. "I'm sorry for yelling at you too."

"It's okay, I deserved it," she said, grabbing hold of my hand.

"No, you don't deserve anyone being angry at you," I said.

I lay down, pulling her down with me, lying against me. Her hands rested lightly on my shoulder blades, and her face was burrowed into my chest. I wrapped my arms around her securely.

"We're an odd pair," she sighed.

"Indeed we are," I said.

We lay in a comfortable silence, and soon after, Bella fell asleep.

I lay awake, feeling her body move with every breath against mine.

I brushed her wet hair away from her face, watching her calm face as she slept.

It reminded me so much of that morning that I'd woken up to her in my arms after we'd made love that time.

I'd known, even then, that I had intense feelings for Bella, but just a few days later I messed it all up so much that it didn't seem like she felt the same way about me. Since then, I'd kept my growing feelings hidden from her; for now, this was enough for me. I just knew that I wouldn't be able to handle her rejection again. I'd fucked up on one too many occasions to even expect her to feel about me the way I felt about her, and I would rather live my whole life not knowing how she felt about me than telling her and ruining our friendship forever.

As I was thinking, my phone began to ring in the other room.

I slipped away from Bella, taking care not to wake her, and went to answer the phone in the other room.

"Hello?" I said.

"Hi Edward," Rosalie said.

"Hey Rose," I said.

"Is Bella around?"

"She's sleeping. Why, is everything okay?"

"Yeah, everything's fine," she said. "I've just finalised all of the details for the trial. Bella needs to be in court starting from the day after tomorrow for four days to provide evidence."

"Okay," I said. "I'll take her."

"Great, I'll text you the details and address," Rosalie said. "But I don't think that you can stay and watch."

"Why not?" I said.

"I don't know, but I've been told that they want to deal with one witness at a time. If you're there for Bella's, she could get distracted or you could alter your story to match hers or some crap."

"What the hell?"? I said. "Are you being serious?"

"Afraid so. You might not have to appear as a witness after all either, but I'm not entirely sure. It depends on how much evidence they can get from the other sources."

"That's a load of shit," I said. "I'm not happy about this Rose. Is there no way you could get me in?"

"I'm sorry Edward, I wish I could," she said, sounding genuine. "It's just not possible."

"Okay," I sighed. "Thanks anyway."

"No problem. Are you guys free tomorrow evening?"

"Probably, why?" I said.

"Is it okay if Emmett and I come over? We'll bring food, I just want to talk to Bella again and give her some last minute advice."

"Sure Rose, you know you're welcome anytime," I said. "You don't have to ask."

"Thanks Edward," she said. "I just wanted to make sure that you weren't going out or anything."

"I don't think we are. Bella doesn't seem to want to do anything but sleep at the moment," I said. "I'm getting quite worried about her."

"I think it's just really hit her what she's doing, and what she's been through," Rosalie said. "Now that the trial is actually coming up, she must be starting to question if she's done the right thing or not."

"I guess," I said. "It's just that she won't eat or drink and she can't be bothered to do anything. It's like she's slipping into depression, and I can't do anything about it."

"Well I'll speak to her tomorrow," Rosalie said. "I'll try and see if she'll speak to me about what's going on."

"Thanks Rose," I said.

"No problem. Anyway, I have to go, so I'll speak to you tomorrow."

"Bye," I said, hanging up.

I went back to Bella's room.

Bella was still on her bed, but was tossing around; the tossing and turning was the first stage of her nightmare.

"Bella," I sighed, beginning the impossible task of waking her up.

I managed it relatively quickly today, escaping with no injuries.

"Same dream?" I asked, rocking her gently in my arms.

"Same dream," she said in a shaky voice.

"Come on, it's time for dinner," I said, trying to get her out of bed. "I'm going to cook for you today."

I helped her up, and she got out of bed with little resistance.

"What are you making?" she asked.

"How does lasagna sound?"

"Great," she said.

"Do you want to watch TV or come in the kitchen with me?" I asked.

"I'll keep you company," she said, and we both walked into the kitchen.

She sat down at the kitchen table, and I went straight to the fridge for the ingredients of the lasagna.

"Rosalie called while you were asleep," I said, dreading having to give her the news.

"What did she say?" Bella said.

"You have to go into court to testify the day after tomorrow," I said. I handed her a bottle of orange juice and a glass, watching her face carefully.

"How long for?" she said, her voice and expression impassive.

"You have to go for four days, but I don't know the exact times," I said. "Rosalie's coming over tomorrow, so she'll tell us all of that stuff."

Bella poured herself a glass of juice, and took a big sip of it.

"I'll drop you off and pick you up, but I can't stay during the actual hearings," I said.

She nodded, continuing to drink her juice.

"Okay," she said simply.

She didn't seem to be too affected by this news, taking it in her stride.

I didn't talk about the case anymore, and we eased into an easy conversation about lasagna and Italian food in general, completely forgetting about James and anything related to him.

Soon, we were tucking into delicious lasagna, which Bella claimed was the best she'd ever eaten anywhere.

"Yeah, yeah, with your cooking skills I'm sure that you can whip up a gourmet standard lasagna yourself," I said, and then suddenly remembered something. "Oh shit..."

"What?" Bella said.

"I shouldn't have cooked you lasagna," I groaned.

"Why not?" Bella looked confused.

"I forgot how amazing your lasagna is. Compared to yours, mine is crap!" I said.

"When did you eat my lasagna?" Bella laughed, taking another bite.

"That first day I came to dinner at your house," I said. "You made the most amazing lasagna ever!"

"Yours isn't bad either," she teased. "It's edible isn't it?"

"Ha ha," I said drily.

"It's really good, seriously," she said, taking another big bite. At least she was eating now.

"Thanks," I said.

After dinner, Bella went straight to bed, as predicted, so I cleaned up and decided to watch a game or something with some beer; no doubt Bella's nightmares would be starting soon, so there was no point going to sleep just yet.

I was just when getting into the game when Bella started talking, confused, jumbled speech.

"Bella," I said loudly, going into her room and crawling into the bed next to her.

I pulled her into me, and the mumbling stopped instantly. It had been a lot quicker than usual to get her to snap out of her nightmare, and I didn't even need to wake her up to do it.

I let myself believe that maybe her nightmares weren't so bad anymore, however, Bella proved me wrong a few hours later when she punched me in the face.

"Bella," I groaned, clutching my nose.

"What?" she said, beginning to wake up.

"Nothing," I said.

"Why's your nose bleeding again? And when did you come in here?" she sounded confused.

"I managed to hit myself in the face," I said quickly, avoiding her second question all together.

"Oh. Okay," she said, and turned over and went back to sleep.

I pinched my nose, trying to stem the bleeding. Eventually, when I realised that it wasn't working, I got out of bed and went to the bathroom to hold my nose over the sink until the bleeding stopped.

I lay down next to her again, holding her close.

It was really bugging me what was the matter with her; I'd thought about it over and over again in my mind, replaying everything that we'd done in the last few days, trying to remember anything that could have triggered the sudden change in her, but nothing was coming to my mind.

The night passed in the same way as usual, with her having frequent nightmares, gradually getting worse, and me lying awake, thinking hard.

I finally fell asleep as well, late into the night, and slept until the early hours of the morning without being woken by Bella. I guess she was making progress.

Bella seemed to be in a deep sleep, and so I slipped out of bed and went to take a shower; after all, her body pressed into mine wasn't going to help my morning wood.

Once I was showered and dressed, I went into the kitchen to make something for breakfast, but Bella was already up and eating a bowl of cereal.

"Morning," I said cheerfully.

"Morning," she said.

"I was just about to make breakfast if you wanted anything," I said.

"No no, I just wanted cereal today," she said.

"Fair enough," I said. "I think I'll just have cereal too."

I put some in a bowl and poured a generous amount of milk over the top, putting a large spoonful into my mouth.

"Did you want to anything today?" I asked.

She shook her head.

"Are you sure? It's really warm today," I said.

"I'm feeling really tired out," she said. "I keep having nightmares that wake me up loads through the night, so I haven't been sleeping great."

"Okay, well take a shower, get ready, and we're going out anyway," I said firmly.

"No Edward-" she said.

"No, we're going out," I said. "You've been in this house too long, and from tomorrow the court stuff is starting. Bella, you're pregnant, you can't just think about yourself anymore, you have a baby to think about too, and all of this stress, not eating, sleeping all the time isn't good for either of you. So take a shower yourself, or let me give you one, get dressed, and then we can go out."

She looked quite taken aback with my assertive speech.

"Fine," she mumbled reluctantly.

"Thank you," I said, relieved that she'd finally agreed to leave the house.

"But I'm not happy about it," she said.

"You don't have to be, you just have to do it," I said.

She finished the rest of her breakfast, throwing dirty looks at me every so often.

Once she was done, she left to shower and get dressed, refusing to let me help her. I tried to hide my disappointment at her regained independence, and the fact that she no longer needed me to worship her body any more.

About half an hour later, she came back into the kitchen, which I'd cleaned during her absence.

She was wearing some black leggings, with a long, flowing top that reached her mid thighs, a deep purple coloured creation with three quarter sleeves and a modest neckline. One foot still had the cast on, but on the other she'd put a flat sandal on. Slung across one shoulder was a small black purse with a gold interlinked chain and a gold clasp on the front.

"Your sister sure has good taste," she said. "She bought exactly the type of clothes that I like to wear. I still need to give her the money for all of this."

"Nonsense," I said. "See it as a gift."

"Edward-"

"Not listening!" I said, beginning to sing loudly.

She huffed and threw an orange at me, which I neatly dodged.

"Aren't you going to be hot in that?" I asked.

"Well I can't really wear anything cooler, it'll show all of the bruises," she said. "Plus, I'd look ridiculous in a skirt or shorts with a cast."

"The bruises are pretty much gone, and it won't look that bad," I said.

She rolled her eyes. "I'll be fine Edward."

"Okay then, let's go," I said, leading her out of the apartment.

"Am I going to have to walk a lot, because I walk really slowly with this cast on," she said.

"Not too much," I said unhelpfully.

"Where are we going?" she asked.

I tapped the side of my nose.

"Come on Edward," she said. "Tell me!"

I mimed sealing my lips and throwing away the key.

"Insufferable moron," she muttered.

"You're not that bad," I grinned.

She hit me with her tiny purse as I locked up. We walked down to the car, and I started driving towards our destination.

Bella kept on trying to guess where we were going from the direction in which we were travelling. Her guesses weren't even coming close, but she still kept on trying, growing more and more frustrated.

We hit traffic, and were sat in the car for a while as we entered the busier part of New York, and we finally made it onto Fifth Avenue.

"Are we going shopping?" Bella asked.

"Nope," I said, for the millionth time today.

I drove up Fifth Avenue until we got to the public parking garage at 72nd Street, which I knew was the closest parking that I would manage to get to our destination.

I parked quickly in the lot, and Bella and I got out of the car. I paid for the parking, and we began walking.

"It's about a twenty minute walk from here," I said.

"Oh great," Bella groaned. "It'll take me almost an hour then."

"No, it'll take twenty minutes, it's only ten minutes, if that, for people with two functioning legs," I said.

"Are you taking the piss out of me and my misfortune Mr. Cullen?" she asked.

"Never," I said, teasing her.

We walked down the busy street; it seemed that everyone in New York had come to enjoy the ninety-degree temperature on Fifth Avenue, with families out enjoying the last of their school and work vacations, tourists snapping photos of the yellow cabs, everyone in their shorts, vest tops and sandals or flip flops, consumed by the heat and the sun beating down fiercely on everyone.

We walked along, stopping to buy ice cream from a road side vendor who I knew had the best ice cream in the whole of New York.

"What flavour Bella?" I asked. "Chocolate, strawberry, pistachio, vanilla, what do you feel like?"

She was stood next to me, her arm threaded through mine as I held her close to my side. She reached up and spoke into my ear.

"I'm not really a vanilla kind of girl," she whispered seductively. "I prefer to mix it up a little."

My voice caught in my throat, and I could feel myself begin to react to her words.

"So you don't like vanilla at all?" I managed to rasp.

"Oh no, I do like it, just not all of the time," she smirked. "After all, if we had vanilla all of the time, it would lose its appeal, would it not?"

Her use of the word 'we' did not go unnoticed.

"I completely agree," I said. "Can you imagine vanilla every single night of your life?" I threw the word 'your' in, trying to get the same reaction that she was getting out of me by talking about us.

"Is that how often you plan to..." she paused, thinking of the right word. "_Satisfy_ yourself?" I saw her eyes darken slightly with lust; either that or her pupils were dilating due to the heat. I like to think it was the first.

"Of course, I find ice cream so refreshingly irresistible we must have some every night," I said huskily. It seemed that we had made ice cream into a euphemism for sex.

"Sir?" the vendor said, breaking our banter.

"Sorry," I said. "I'll have two scoops in a wafer cone, one scoop mint chocolate and one scoop of normal chocolate. Bella?"

"Same, but with one scoop of mocha instead of the mint chocolate please," she said.

The guy made up our ice creams for us, and Bella and I had a minor disagreement over who was going to pay, a battle ending with her winning.

She smugly paid for the ice cream, and we carried on walking along 72nd Street.

As we approached the gate, Bella screeched "Are we going to Central Park?"

"No, I thought we'd come, look at the gate from across the street, and then go home again," I said dryly.

"Very funny," she said, rolling her eyes. "I love Central Park!"

"Good," I said. "So do I. I always come here if I need to think or I've been having a really rough time."

"I used to come here all the time when I first moved to the city," Bella said. "I haven't been here in ages! Which bit are we going to today?"

"Today, my dear sweet Bella, we are doing something that I have always wanted to do, but have never been able to do."

"What?"

"We're going to hire a boat from the boathouse," I said, watching the surprise turn to delight on her beautiful face.

"Are you being serious?" she asked excitedly.

"Yep," I said.

She squealed, and threw her arms around my neck. I picked her up effortlessly, glad that she liked my choice.

"I have always wanted to go on a boat ride here!" she said.

"Well today, we are going to," I said, walking through the beautiful scenery of Central Park, Bella still in my arms.

"You can put me down you know," Bella said.

"I know," I said. "But I don't want to."

She flushed crimson, mumbling incoherently.

The Boathouse finally came into view, and I picked up the pace, walking quickly towards it.

I rented a small rowboat, and clambered in from the dock, trying to distribute my weight evenly across the boat so that it wouldn't capsize. Once I was in the boat, I helped Bella get in carefully, sitting her down on the wooden bench. I sat down on my bench opposite hers, grabbed hold of the oars, and began to row gently.

We glided through the water, through the curtain of willow trees, travelling further and further away from solid ground, until we were rowing in the middle of the lake, completely alone, just me and Bella.

The sun was shining high above us, and a cool breeze whistled through the clear blue sky, leaving traces of the fragrances of the park lingering in the air.

"It's so beautiful out here," Bella whispered.

"I know," I whispered back, gazing at her gorgeous, awe-stricken face, not wanting to break the peace or tranquillity with my loud voice.

I carried on rowing, the sounds of gentle paddling adding to the melody of the birds and whistling trees; a natural orchestra.

I wanted to stay in this moment forever, Bella and I, alone, no one to harm us, no one to disturb us.

I let the waters take us where they would, hardly changing direction myself, but following the course of the lake, meandering lazily through the park, passing others in their boats, watching those ashore at their most relaxed.

I didn't want to look at the time; looking the time would mean restricting our time out here.

Eventually though, I knew that I would have to, and was surprised to find that we had been out on the water for almost an hour and a half.

"Bella," I began, unwillingly. "We should turn back around."

"Okay," she said. "It's not like we're never going to come here," she added, probably catching sight of my disheartened expression, which I'm sure probably turned hopeful the minute she said that.

I rowed back just as leisurely as I had rowed away from the Boathouse, prolonging our time on the water, clutching onto the day, willing it to last longer.

All good things, however, must come to an end, and all too soon we were stepping back onto the dock.

"Come on, we'll eat a late lunch at the Boathouse restaurant," I said.

"Okay," Bella said happily.

We went into the lakeside Boathouse restaurant, and talked about anything and everything over a delicious meal of flat iron steak with a wild mushroom sauce. The conversation was easy and endless, and Bella seemed more like her usual self again.

I refused to let her pay this time, slipping the money to the waiter before he could even give us the bill, insisting that since she had paid for the ice cream she couldn't pay for the meal. She didn't look particularly happy about it, but she couldn't do anything about it; once my mind is set, I always follow through.

The air was beginning to get slightly cooler, and the sun was beginning to set in the sky, and so we decided to head home. If Rosalie hadn't been coming over, I'm sure we would have stayed longer.

We walked slowly back to the garage, and conversation turned to the court case.

"Are you nervous?" I asked.

"Not so much about the case, I'm more worried about seeing him," she admitted.

"He can't do anything to you," I said quickly. "Not in the courtroom."

"I guess," she said. "I'm just more worried about what he's going to think. I almost feel as though I betrayed him; he did so much for me, and when it suited me I dropped him in it and got him arrested. It if hadn't been for him, then Renee wouldn't have gotten her treatment."

"You would've found another way, I'm sure," I said.

"Not a way to make the money back fast enough."

"You shouldn't beat yourself up over it, think of all of the girls you're saving from this fate," I said.

"I suppose," she said, but she still didn't look convinced.

"Have you got clothes for tomorrow?" I asked.

"Yeah, Alice bought me some smart stuff, so I'll just pick something out of there," she said.

"Okay, I'll drop you off at the court, but I can't come in and watch," I said, and her face quickly turned to mine.

"Why not?" she demanded.

"Rosalie says that if they need me for evidence or something then I can't have witnessed the other trials," I said. "I don't know, it doesn't make sense to me. I'll drop you off, and then I might go into work, seeing as you'll be gone pretty much the whole day."

"Okay," she said.

"I told you yesterday that I couldn't come in," I said.

"I must've been half asleep," she said. "I don't remember."

We'd reached the garage now, and were getting into the car.

"Traffic's going to be crap," I groaned.

Bella was sitting quietly again. I could tell that she was going into one of her quiet spells again, but thought it best to leave her to her thoughts. She had a big day tomorrow, and she'd need to be cool and calm for it.

We hardly spoke until we got home, where Rosalie and Emmett were making out on my couch.

"Oi!" I yelled. "What the fuck are you doing?"

"Sorry Eddie," Emmett smirked, looking anything but sorry, making no move to get off of Rosalie. "We were getting bored, what kept you so long?"

"Traffic," I said shortly. "So when you get bored, you make out?"

"Yep," Emmett said. "But not at Jasper's place."

"Oh okay, I see, my couch is the make out spot?" I said.

Rosalie and Bella looked amused at our little debate.

"How did you get in anyway?" I asked.

"I have a key," Emmett said simply.

"No you don't," I said, confused. I didn't remember giving him a key.

"I stole your spare."

"Emmett!" I said, thoroughly annoyed. "I fucking sit on that couch! Hell, I eat on the couch some days!"

"Then you don't want to know what we did on your bed," he said, winking at Rosalie.

"Great," I muttered.

"Calm down Edward," Rosalie said, squeezing her way out from under Emmett. "Let's get to work."

"We brought pizzas," Emmett said. "They're in the oven, keeping warm."

"I'll get them," Bella said, limping into the kitchen.

I followed her, and started pulling dishes out of the cupboards.

Between us, we quickly got the food, drinks and dishes set out on the kitchen table.

"Come and eat!" I yelled, and Rosalie and Emmett both came and sat at the table, helping themselves to pizza.

Once everyone had started eating, Rosalie began running through some advice with Bella, about how to talk in court, how to stand, not to look at James, to appear confident, before running through details of the actual case with her.

"Take this in with you," Rosalie said, sliding a folder towards Bella. "This is all of your medical reports, photos, doctors statements, basically, everything medical related is in here."

"Okay," Bella said, flicking through.

"If they ask you for anything, give them the whole folder. You're photos are in here as well, with all of your injuries and stuff." She pulled out another folder, handing that one to Bella as well. "This one has bank statements and the documents for the club that Edward found in his office."

She then stood up, feeling around in her pockets, finally pulling out a USB stick.

"This has the videos of his raping the girls on it," she said, handing it over. "This is one of our biggest pieces of evidence. It also has that big database on it."

Rosalie kept on going through things with Bella, from how to answer questions to certain details that she should definitely mention.

"Also, don't mention the pregnancy unless they specifically ask," Rosalie advised.

When everyone was finished eating, Emmett and I began to clean and talk about the game, and the girls carried on talking about the case.

When we had cleaned anything that could be cleaned, the girls were still talking, so we moved into the sitting room and began watching TV.

Two hours later, the girls came out of the kitchen, carrying a pile of folders.

"Emmett," Rosalie said. "Let's go."

"Okay Rosie," Emmett said, jumping up.

Rosalie put the folders down on the couch, taking the rest out of Bella's hands and setting them down next to them.

She hugged Bella and gave her a kiss on the cheek, before Emmett did the same, lifting her off her feet and promising to drop by in the morning before work.

"I'll see you at the courthouse," Rosalie said. "I'm allowed to watch, so I'll wait for you outside and we'll go in together."

"Okay," Bella said. I was glad that she'd have someone there to support her.

I followed them to the door, and asked Rosalie quietly if she'd spoken to Bella about her moods.

"I asked, but she said she was fine, so I didn't push her," Rosalie said. "Sorry Edward."

"Don't worry about it, I'm sure I'm worrying over nothing," I said, giving her a hug.

"Here are the directions for tomorrow," she said, handing me a piece of paper.

"Thanks Rose. See you tomorrow guys," I said, watching them leave.

Once they'd gone, I shut the door, and went to sit in the sitting room. Bella picked up the pile of folders and went straight to her room.

"I'm just going to read through these," she called over her shoulder. "I'll see you in the morning."

"Goodnight," I said.

A few minutes later, she came back out, dressed for bed.

"Edward?" she said.

I'd been so engrossed in the TV that I hadn't noticed her come back in.

"Yeah?" I said, jumping up and walking over to her. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah," she said, once I was stood in front of her. "I just realised that I didn't thank you properly for today. I can't remember the last time I had such a good time, so thank you." She leaned up and wrapped her arms around my neck and kissed my cheek, leaving it burning.

"Not at all," I said, returning her embrace. "It was my pleasure."

We stood there for a few minutes.

"Edward?" Bella said, breaking the silence.

"Yes?"

"I'm scared," she said.

"Sweetheart," I said. "You'll be great. The evidence is completely against him, there's no way he'll be let free."

"It's not just that though," she said, against my shirt. "He and Tanya will be put in jail probably, but they still have loads of people around who could come and track me down, you've got a baby on the way, and so I have to find somewhere else to go and live by myself, and I've got my own baby coming as well, to protect from these people!"

She was beginning to hyperventilate, so I picked her up and walked over to the couch, sitting down with her in my lap, rocking her gently and stroking her hair.

"First of all, who says that you're leaving as soon as my baby comes? You're staying here until you're better, the two idiots are in prison and you want to leave. That also solves your first problem of people turning up to seek revenge on behalf of the Denali's; you're living with me, and I'll protect you. Finally, yes, you are having a baby, but that won't be too difficult. You'll be here, remember? We can be first time parents together. I'm going to be there with you every step of the way Bella."

She'd calmed down a bit after hearing all of that.

"Thank you," she said, and then laughed shakily. "You always seem to know what to say to calm me down."

"I have that effect on people," I joked.

"I should get some sleep," she said.

"Goodnight," I said again, deciding to go to bed as well.

Bella's nightmares seemed to be worse that night, judging by the increased violence and noise, and I slept in her room, as usual.

The next morning, I got ready for work, and she got ready for court, deciding to wear a smart blouse with some black trousers.

She seemed nervous, managing only to eat half a piece of toast.

Emmett arrived, as promised, while we were in the middle of breakfast, with Jasper in tow.

"Alice wanted to come as well," Jasper said, bending down to hug Bella. "But she wasn't feeling too great, so I told her to come tomorrow."

"That's okay, I understand, tell her I hope she gets well soon," Bella said.

"Will do," Jasper grinned.

"We brought you these," Emmett said, holding out a huge bunch of flowers to Bella.

"Thanks," she said, beaming. "They're lovely!"

Emmett hugged her as well, and Emmett and Jasper both hung around for a cup of coffee, before leaving for work.

When Bella was ready to go, she picked up the files that Rosalie had told her to take, and walked determinedly down to the car.

She kept on playing with the hem of her blouse, and flicking through the files, and as we got closer and closer to the court, her nerves seemed to have turned into a steely determination.

As I pulled up at the address that Rosalie had written down and given to Bella, I could see Rosalie standing outside, dressed impressively in a smart grey dress and heels.

She helped Bella out of the car as I wished her luck, and watched her go in.

The minute she had gone in, I sped off to work.

The first few days that Bella had been here, I'd been phoning in sick, but I then decided to take an extended break due to 'personal reasons'. It wasn't exactly a lie.

When I got into work, there was a mountain of paperwork that had been put on my desk. Since James and I had both been off work, neither of the co-owners had been around, and so the work had piled up. My secretary had been excellent, doing as much as she could do, and had filled in most of the paperwork for me, leaving me to just sign most of the documents.

It was killing me that I couldn't be with Bella and see what was going on, and I couldn't focus on anything else all day; Bella and the trial were planted at the forefront of my mind.

I decided not to take a lunch break, instead working solid, wanting to get as much done as possible. Plus, working kept my mind off Bella, for a while at least. I kept on working, and by the end of the day, I had made good headway with the pile of paperwork, reducing it into just a hill rather than a mountain.

When it was time to go, I drove back to the court. Bella and Rosalie were already outside, waiting for me.

Bella looked completely blank, but Rosalie looked fairly pleased with herself.

"How did it go?" I asked as Bella got into the car.

"Brilliant!" Rosalie said. "The divorce is going through as well."

"Good," I said. "Do you want a lift?"

"No thanks, I drove here this morning," Rosalie said.

"Okay then, I'll see you tomorrow," I said, pulling away.

Bella hadn't said a single word.

"Are you okay?" I asked.

"Yeah, I'm just tired," she said.

After a while, I asked "Do you want to talk about it?"

She shook her head, and didn't speak again until we got home and said that she wasn't hungry, going straight to bed.

Her nightmares showed no signs of going away any time soon, and I found myself going back to her bed to soothe her.

The next two days passed in exactly the same way; we'd wake up, have breakfast while Emmett, Jasper or Alice came to see Bella and wish her luck, Bella would go to the court, I would go to work, and then we'd come home, eat and go to bed.

Bella was back to being tired and snappy, and I made a mental note to take her back to Central Park when she was finished with the court this week.

On her last day at court, I decided not to go into work, and instead stay home and clean, so that we could spend the weekend going out and about instead of doing chores. Anyway, I'd finished the paperwork, and had told my secretary to fax any work home for today, and email and text me anything and everything, so that I could work from home for the next few days.

Once I'd dropped Bella off, I drove back home and began to clean, throwing open all of the windows and putting the radio on full blast. I started by tidying everything, and putting everything where it belonged, before dusting everywhere and the vacuuming. I never knew whether you should dust or vacuum first, but I went for dusting first.

I then changed both Bella's and my bed sheets; I'd hardly slept in mine, but I didn't know if Bella knew this, so I changed them both so that it didn't look suspicious.

I then moved onto the bathroom; we'd both been using my bathroom, and so the main bathroom didn't take as long to clean as mine.

Equally, my room was pretty clean anyway, so didn't need much work, but I decided to make Bella's room look nicer for her, to surprise her when she got home; I straightened out her dresser for her, lining up all of the makeup that Alice had gotten her neatly, and sorted out her bedside tables. I put all of her shoes back in the closet and put all of the clothes that she'd worn in the laundry. I brought the vase of flowers that Emmett and Jasper had brought her, and placed it on her dresser.

I was grabbing some shoes from under her bed, when I found a little black book that had fallen under a bedside table.

I pulled it out and looked at it, suddenly remembering when Bella had asked me to hand it to her with a pen a few days ago.

I guessed that it was some sort of journal or diary, and decided not to read it, before remembering that it was the day after I had given it to her that her weird withdrawn mood began.

I wondered if this had anything to do with her low moods at the moment, or if it was just a coincidence, but I didn't want to look through her private diary.

I turned it over in my hands, trying to decide what to do with it, before deciding that I would just see what it was.

I flicked through it, and found that it was full of neat black writing. She was about three quarters of the way through the book. I began to read the first page, becoming engrossed in it.

This wasn't just a diary; it was her whole life story.

I knew that I should stop reading it, that it wasn't my business, but I couldn't pull myself away from the words on the page, the key to everything.

I sat on her bedroom floor for hours, just reading through the book, feeling sick at parts, sick at what Bella had gone through.

It was almost like this was a fictional story book, and I had to keep reminding myself that this had actually happened to Bella, that she had actually been through this.

Towards the end of the book, her writing seemed to get messier, and there were blotches on the page, where she had been crying when she wrote it no doubt.

The last couple of pages had been written recently; the pages still felt damp to the touch, and the writing was scrawled quickly and viciously into the paper.

_SEPTEMBER 2006_

"_I've just had a call from Renee's doctor. Did you know that she's been asking to kill herself?" I said, my anger pouring out of me._

"_Yes I did," he said, and I felt a pang of jealousy; Renee had confided in Jake, but she couldn't talk to her daughter about her concerns? "And do you know why?"_

"_The pain," I said simply._

"_No," Jacob said. "How's your husband, Mrs. Denali?"_

"_He's fine," I snapped. "This has got nothing to do with him though, that's not what I asked."_

"_Oh, it's got everything to do with him," Jacob said. "How much did he pay for you?"_

_I couldn't breathe. _

"_What?" I choked out. "I don't know what you mean."_

"_You know exactly what I mean Bella," he said. "Renee found out about your whoring ways and couldn't bear the shame. Her only daughter, forced into prostitution to pay for her treatments, while she stays in a hospital bed 24/7, how do you think she's going to feel?"_

"_That's a load of crap," I said, trying to regain my composure._

"_No it isn't, and you know it," he snarled. "You joined a strip club in New York before marrying some rich guy who pays for Renee's treatment in exchange for sex and status! Why would you do that Bella?"_

"_Who told you this crap?" I asked. "It's complete bullshit; you know I'd never do a thing like that!"_

"_Obviously you would," Jacob said. "Why else would your husband tell your mother-in-law that you did?"_

_My breath caught in my throat._

"_He did what?" I said._

"_James," he spat. "Rang Renee and told her all about your little deal."_

"_Why?" I said stupidly._

"_How the fuck should I know?" Jacob yelled back."Maybe you should ask him that!"  
_

"_Jacob, listen to me-" I begged._

"_No Bella!" he roared suddenly. "I used to have so much respect for you, you used to be my best friend, hell, I even thought that we might end up getting married someday! Never did I think that you, Bella Swan, would grow up to become a common whore!"_

_His words brought instant tears to my eyes._

"_You're right," I sobbed. "You're right, I'm a whore, but I had no other choice!"_

"_Yes, yes you fucking did!" he yelled. "You just couldn't be bothered to think of anything else!"_

"_Jacob please-"_

"_I'll keep transferring the money," he said, in an icy cold voice. "And I'll still help Renee, and be the respectable child that she always wanted. But I am never speaking to you again."_

_With that, my oldest, dearest friend slammed the phone down on me, leaving me crying into the silence. _

_Over the next few weeks, Renee didn't phone me, and I couldn't phone her; not now that I knew how ashamed she was of me, I couldn't bring myself to face her._

_Eventually, I gave in, needing to hear the sound of her voice._

"_Mom?" I said when she answered._

"_Bella," she said curtly._

"_How are you?"_

"_Fine."_

_She didn't offer anything more, and I couldn't think of anything to say to her._

"_I need to go," she said after a few minutes of awkward silence._

"_Wait," I said, "What's wrong? Why won't you talk to me?"_

"_You know, the day I gave birth to you was the happiest day of my life. As your father and I gazed into your gorgeous eyes, we never even imagined that our little baby girl would grow up to be a whore," she spat._

"_Mom," I said._

"_No," she said sharply. "You don't have the right to call me that anymore. You lost that right when you sold yourself like to the highest bidder."_

_Her words were sharp and laced with malice; I didn't know who this angry woman was, this woman who had replaced my warm, accepting Mom. _

"_But I did it for you!" I cried._

"_There is no reason for you becoming a prostitute," she said._

"_You think that this was my first choice?" I said, scandalised. _

"_Well I'm sorry Isabella, but this isn't an overnight decision," she said. "You must have had some intention to do that sort of work when you left for New York. And not only did you leave to become a prostitute, you've been lying about it to us this whole time."_

"_And this is exactly why!" I said. "I knew that you would freak out if I told you!"_

"_Well you were right. And to learn this from the man who bought my daughter..." she trailed off. _

"_I'm sorry," I cried. "Please Mom, don't be like this! I'll come back, I'll pay James back the money, I'll do anything!" I begged._

"_It's too late for that Isabella," she said. "As far as I'm concerned, I don't have a daughter anymore. I'm just glad that your father didn't see what had become of you, what a rubbish job I did as a mother."_

"_Mom, it's not your fault-"_

"_Yes, it is. If I'd taught you more morals, made you go to church more, maybe this wouldn't have ever happened."_

"_Mom-"_

"_Don't call me that anymore. You're nothing to me anymore."_

"_I love you," I said pathetically, trying once more._

"_I love you too," she sighed, before hanging up._

_Three days later, I got a call._

"_Mrs. Denali?"_

"_Speaking, who is this please?" I said._

"_This is Dr. Philips again," he said._

"_Oh, hello," I said. "How can I help?"_

"_I'm very sorry to have to tell you this Mrs. Denali, but your mother passed away just half an hour ago. I called as soon as I could. It seemed that she stole another patient's medication while they were in the bathroom, swapping it with her own. The drugs that she took would normally be harmless, however they contained morphine. She had a severe reaction to the morphine and had already passed away before the issue came to anyone's attention."_

_I couldn't speak. My mother, my warm, loving mother, was gone. _

"_Mrs. Denali?" _

"_I have spoken to her son, Jacob-"_

"_Her son?" I said. _

"_Yes, she always referred to Jacob as her son. He is making all of the necessary arrangements. He will contact you regarding details of the funeral. I am very sorry for you loss."_

"_Thank you," I said, stunned. "Thank you for all of your help."_

"_Not at all," he said. "Please do not hesitate to call me if you want to know anything more."_

_I was stunned. _

_Renee was gone. _

_I instantly rang Jacob._

"_Hello?" he said wearily. He sounded exhausted._

"_Jacob," I said. _

"_Before Renee passed away," he said, getting straight to the point, "She left us each a letter. I'll forward yours onto you, but in mine she has specifically said that she doesn't want you at her funeral, so I'm sorry, but you can't come." It was almost as if he had known that I was going to call at this moment, the way he reeled this information off to me. _

"_What?" I said. "You can't stop me from coming to my own mother's funeral!"_

"_I'm sorry," he said. "But I have to comply with her wishes. I'm very busy with the arrangements right now; I'll call you back some other time."_

_I even tried begging Billy, who although sounded genuinely sorry, told me the same thing as Jacob. That I couldn't go to the funeral. _

_I debated just going to Forks anyway, but I knew Jacob; if he'd said I wasn't allowed in, he wouldn't let me in. Even if it meant him missing the funeral to fight me over the issue. _

_I threw the phone at the fridge, throwing anything within reach, feeling a strange satisfaction when I heard it break. Eventually I curled up on the kitchen floor in a shaking mess, screaming and crying, tears of grief and injustice._

_And then I knew; that no matter what would happen in this world, I would be alone. _

_The three people that I had trusted and loved most in this world had both abandoned me. And as for the fourth, my father? He'd been the first to leave me here._

_On the morning of my mother's funeral, I bought a huge bouquet of sunflowers, Gerbera daisies, daffodils, all of Renee's favourite flowers, and went down to the pond at Central Park, floating them, one by one into the clear water. I lit loads and loads of small tea lights, and set them in the middle of flower heads and leaves, sending them off into the water too. I stayed at the banks of the pond for hours, remembering my mom and praying for her, talking out loud about her. _

_I bet everyone thought that I was mental, insane; but I didn't care anymore. _

Bella had stopped writing at this point.

I'd never realised that her mom had never made it, that her life had been this tough.

I stayed sitting on the floor, clutching the book in my hands.

I felt an intense sense of anger towards Renee; she hadn't even seen what her daughter had done for her, what she'd sacrificed for her, before she decided to go kill herself.

I realised that I needed to go pick up Bella, but I phone Rosalie and asked her to take Bella to her place for a while.

I remembered seeing a little address book on Bella's dresser, and walked over and picked it up, looking through it until I found the number that I wanted. I went into the living room to get the phone, and began dialling the number.

"Hello?" a gruff voice said on the other end.

"Hi, is that Jacob?" I asked.

"Yes, who is this?"

"My name is Edward Cullen, I'm a friend of Bella," I said.

There was a long pause.

"Did she ask you to call?" he said.

"No, she doesn't even know that I know about you," I said.

"Are you her new owner or something?" he spat.

"No, I'm just a friend," I said.

"How is she?" Jacob asked. Despite sounding like a complete ass in Bella's diary, he sounded concerned about her.

"She's..." I tried to think of the right word. "Been better. I just wanted to ask about something."

"Go ahead," he said, not unkindly.

"Why didn't Renee want Bella at her funeral?" I said. To be honest, I hadn't really had anything to say specifically to Jacob, it was just a spur of the moment decision to try and talk to him.

"I honestly don't know," Jacob sighed. "She just said that she didn't want her there. I think she was ashamed of Bella and with good reason too."

"That's not fair," I said. "Bella didn't do what she did out of choice; she did it out of necessity, for Renee. She did what any good daughter would have done."

"Yes, well, that wasn't her only option."

"Where is Renee buried?" I asked, changing the subject before I started yelling at him.

"Forks," he said.

"Why did you stop talking to Bella?" I asked. "You just dropped her when she needed someone in her life the most."

"She had someone," Jacob said. "Her owner."

"I'm sorry, but you don't have any idea what her life has been like since then," I said, feeling a need to defend Bella. "It hasn't been easy or fun for her."

"Well it was her choice," Jacob said, his voice turning cold. "If you've just called me to lecture me, then I don't want to hear it."

"Okay, look, I'll talk to you another time before this starts to get messy," I said. "I think that you need to see what Bella's life has been like, and she needs to understand what yours has been like. Neither of you have had it easy."

"Fine," he said shortly.

"But I'll call you," I said. "Bella doesn't know anything about this."

"Okay. Bye."

I put the phone down, feeling somewhat proud of myself; I was going to help get Bella's life back to normal.

* * *

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	25. Chapter 25

**Here it is folks, the next chapter!**

**I'm really sorry about the long wait between updates, I'm in Year 11 at the moment and my GCSE's are fast approaching, and they are taking up a lot of my time. I will be finished with exams in June, and hopefully the updates will get more regular from then onwards. **

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**There's the usual warning for language, and also this is a very long chapter, so it may take a while to get through. **

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******Enjoy!**

* * *

**BPOV**

A month had passed since I had had to go to court and give my statements, and still no verdict seemed to have been reached. It was expected to have gone through last week, but the judge had called for more witnesses, and the jury was still in deep deliberation.

I had filed for divorce while I was in court as well, on the grounds of cruel and inhuman treatment, a claim that James had sneered at in court.

_5 September 2011_

"_Bullshit!" James shouted. "She sold herself to me, she was my property!"_

"_Mr. Denali, please refrain from interrupting. You will have a chance to speak later," the judge said sternly, before turning back to me."Can you give examples Mrs. Denali? Do you have evidence?"_

_I picked up the file in trembling hands. "I have medical reports and photographs of the injuries he inflicted on me." _

_The judge motioned for the bailiff to come and get the files from me and pass them to him._

_He flicked through the files, before giving me a kind smile. _

"_You, your husband and I can discuss the divorce later. Do you contest the divorce Mr Denali?"_

"_No," James spat. "I can't wait to be rid of her. I don't want anything from her, but freedom."_

"_Very well," the judge said. He looked like a kind old man, with a very calming presence. He reminded me of Santa Claus, a happy, good man."Seeing as the divorce is uncontested, you should be legally divorced in about six months. We will discuss this later."_

The judge had scheduled a hearing date for a week after that, in which we were each asked questions about why we wanted a divorce and what assets each of us wanted to keep. I certainly didn't want the house or car, and James didn't want any of his money back, surprisingly. Since we both wanted the divorce and there was no dispute over any property, the divorce proceedings were relatively fast.

It had been almost a month since that day; I was just five months from being legally single again.

"Bella?" Edward called from the kitchen.

"Coming," I said, dragging myself up from my bed and walking into the kitchen.

My foot was completely healed now, and physically I was back to normal. Mentally was another issue.

"It smells amazing," I said. "What's cooking?"

"Chicken pot pie," he said, pulling out a chair for me.

I sat down, and Edward passed me a plate full of the delicious smelling pie.

"I can't eat this much!" I protested, as he piled lots of salad onto my plate.

"It's fine, eat as much as you want," Edward said.

I began to eat, moaning as the warm, tasty pie played with my taste buds.

"I'll that to mean that you like it then?" Edward chuckled.

"I love it!" I said happily. "It's amazing! Thank you Edward!"

"Not at all," he laughed. "If it makes you so happy, I think I'll start making it all the time."

"Please do," I said my mouth full of pie.

"Ever the lady," Edward said.

"What can I say, with my total lack of balance and reaction to food, how could you think otherwise?"

I had been feeling more of myself over the last couple of weeks, and was starting to get over what I had been through, mainly with the help of Edward. As my physical injuries had faded, my mental wounds had begun to close up, and I could feel more of the old Bella coming back through, Bella Swan, the unmarried, innocent young girl from Forks. I was no longer Isabella Denali, the perfect housewife during the day, and the dirty whore by night. It was a slow process, but I was getting there.

I felt free for the first time in years.

"Bella?" Edward said, shaking me out of my thoughts.

I looked up, and found him smirking at me. "I thought you said that you couldn't finish all of that?"

I looked down at my plate, and it was almost clean.

"You're just such a good cook," I said.

"I know," he said cockily. "Not as good as you though."

"Well few people are honey," I smirked. "I just can't help being a perfect human being."

"I was talking about your cooking skills," Edward said.

"Oh I know, they're included in the perfection that is Bella Swan."

I had changed my name back to Swan, not wanting to be a Denali any longer, asking the judge for my name to be changed as part of the divorce judgement in the hearing.

"Someone's full of shit today," Edward said, rolling his eyes.

"I know, I'm looking at him," I said.

He looked at me closely. "Are you high or something?"

"No, why?"

"You just seem completely different to normal," he said. "In a good way."

"I feel different," I said. "More like myself, you know, before everything happened. I can see everything coming to an end, now that the trial's out of the way, like there's light at the end of the tunnel. I'll probably never be exactly like that again, but I don't want to be the woman who is depressed for the rest of her life after being sold to an abusive dickhead."

"Exactly, I know it won't be easy, but you can't ruin your life because of what happened with him," Edward agreed. "You're going to have to move on at some point, when you're ready."

"Yep, and I'm ready now," I said, determinedly. "No time like the present right?"

We had both finished eating by now, and I started to help Edward clear up, taking the dishes over to the sink and beginning to wash up.

We took it in turns to cook and then to wash or dry, and today it was my turn to wash. It was strange how both of us had fallen into such a domestic routine; we were both back at work now, and so we both left the house at the same time and got home at the same time, taking it in turns to cook for each other and working together to do the cleaning and household chores. It felt like we had been living together for years, and I felt more comfortable with Edward than I had done with anyone since I left Forks.

Emmett and Rosalie visited often, as did Alice and Jasper, and we had taken to all meeting up on Saturday for a day filled with competitive video gaming, effortless talking, a group outing or even shopping, an activity which was not appreciated as much by the guys, otherwise known as our bag carriers on such days.

When I had left James, I thought that I was going to be all alone in the city; instead, I had gained a whole family of friends.

I finished up the washing, and then helped Edward to put the dried dishes away, before sweeping the kitchen floor as he wiped down all of the surfaces.

"How was work today?" he asked.

"It was okay, it was really busy. A woman came in and asked to speak to the owner, so Angela sent her out to my office. Turns out she was asking if we could make her wedding cake for her," I said.

"Wow!" Edward said. "You're going to have to expand your business soon! What did you say?"

"I said that I'd get back to her, I took down her contact details. I don't know whether I should," I said hesitantly. "I've never made anything that big before."

"Well why don't you give it a go?" Edward said.

"What?"

"Well we haven't got anything else to do today, let's go buy ingredients and give it a go!" he said excitedly.

"Edward, we can't just make a wedding cake," I said.

"Why not?" he said. "It's Friday night, we don't have work tomorrow, and we can't drink because you're pregnant."

"Oh excuse me for draining the fun from your life by being pregnant," I said, rolling my eyes. "So when you're bored, you make wedding cakes?"

"Yep," he said. "Come on, let's give it a go! It's not even 6pm yet, we can get some cake tins from your bakery on the way to the supermarket for the other ingredients."

"Edward, those things take days, weeks even, to make. We can't just make one in the course of a few hours," I said.

"So we'll make a small one," he said.

"Edward, honey, there is no such thing as a small wedding cake," I laughed.

"Come on Bella, if it will help your business then why not? We can try one out, and you can see how to make them, how long they take roughly, it'll be fun. Who knows, you could even open your own wedding cake business."

He looked so enthusiastic that I just couldn't keep denying him.

"Okay," I sighed. "Let's make one."

"I knew you'd see it my way," he said smugly. "Let's go to the supermarket."

We drove quickly to the bakery first, and I let us in through the back door and led Edward to the equipment store cupboard, turning on the lights as I went through.

When I had started up the bakery, I had bought large, metal racks to store equipment and ingredients on, the six foot tall racks with about seven long shelves and small black wheels to easily transport them around.

"First things first," I said, grabbing a big pad of paper from the side and a thick black marker, "We need to design our cake."

"Okay," Edward said. "I think we should make a traditional three tier cakes, with circle tiers."

"Okay," I said, drawing out what he had said. "What flavours shall we make?"

"Ermm..." Edward looked lost in thought.

"Well there's three tiers, and we can't eat them all ourselves, so we could make the smallest tier a flavour that we like, the middle one a cake for Alice and Jasper, and the biggest tier for Emmett and Rosalie. I know how Emmett likes his cake," I laughed. "That way everyone's happy, and the cake doesn't get wasted."

"Great idea," Edward said. "They are going to love us after this!"

"They already love _me_," I said teasingly.

"Sure they do," he said sarcastically, raising an eyebrow.

"Okay, so which flavours do they like?" I said.

"I don't know," Edward said. "We could call them?"

"We can just guess based on their personalities," I said. "It'll be more fun."

I ripped out a clean piece of paper and wrote each of the four names down in big letters.

"Alice is very bubbly," Edward said. "Very cheerful and wide awake at all goddamn hours."

"She's very...zingy," I said. "Citrus."

"Right," Edward said. "But it also has to match Jasper's personality, so the flavours have to match together well and also have to represent each of their personalities."

"Jasper's quite calming," I said. "And when he's with Alice, he almost tones down the noise and enthusiasm."

"We could do something with coffee," Edward said. "Coffee for Alice instead of citrus. And then chocolate or something for Jasper. Or even do an orange and chocolate, with orange as the citrus."

"I don't know," I frowned. "They're both very heavy cakes, and Alice and Jasper are a very cute couple, both very...I don't know how to describe it. They take each day as it comes, they don't over think or overcomplicate anything."

"I know what you mean," Edward said. "There's something almost dainty about them."

"Yeah, so the cake needs to reflect that," I said, thinking hard. "How about lime and coconut? I have a killer recipe for a cake with those flavours, and we can fill it with lime curd filling and desiccated coconut. It's a really light cake as well, it isn't heavy at all."

"Sounds perfect," Edward said. "Emmett and Rose next. Emmett is very dense," he laughed.

"Be nice," I said playfully. "But I kind of agree with you, he's very big and bold, and he has a strong personality. Rosalie is a bit sassier and more delicate, but also has a strong personality, so we need two strong flavours that match together well."

"This cake should be quite a heavy cake as well," Edward said. "They have more of a day to day plan compared with Alice and Jasper, and plan things out a lot more."

"Really? The only thing I've heard Emmett plan is what time he's having sex that night," I said.

"Exactly," Edward said. "Have you seen how meticulously they plan that? Sometimes we even get a full ten second warning."

"How about a rich chocolate cake," I said. "With a light but fragrant rose water frosting?"

"Miss Swan, I think you are onto something," Edward said. "That sounds perfect!"

"Good," I smiled. "So what's your favourite cake flavour?"

"I'm good with pretty much anything," he said.

"There has to be something," I laughed; I could tell that he was purposefully hiding it from me.

"Let's have some fun with ours," he suddenly suggested. "Let's call each of the two couples and ask them to pick a flavour to represent us, and mix the two together."

"Okay," I said. "Emmett and Rosalie can pick yours, Alice and Jasper can do mine."

He started to dial Emmett's number, and Rosalie answered.

"Hey Rose," Edward said, putting the phone on loudspeaker. "I didn't know you guys had moved in together." He winked at me slyly.

"We haven't jackass," she said. "I came round for dinner."

"Whatever you say Rose," Edward grinned. "Is Emmett around?"

"Yeah, he's here," Rosalie said. "Shall I give him the phone?"

"Actually, I wanted to talk to both of you, can you put the phone on loudspeaker?"

"Edward!" Emmett boomed.

"Jesus Emmett, I'm right here," Edward said.

"Hey Em!" I said.

"Hey Bella," he said. "What did you guys want?"

"What cake flavour do you think best represents Edward?" I asked.

"Vanilla," they both said at the same time.

"Vanilla?" Edward said, confused.

"Yeah," Emmett said. "Boring, safe, common-"

"I am not common!" Edward said.

"Ah, so you agree you're boring and safe?" Rosalie said.

"No!" Edward said. "I can't believe you think that!"

"Well believe it bunny boy," Emmett said. "Our food's getting cold, bye!"

"I am not boring!" Edward said, as I laughed at him.

"Let's get my flavour shall we?" I said, dialling Alice's number.

"Bella!" Alice chimed.

"Hey Al," I said. "Is Jasper around?"

"He's right here," she said.

"Good, could you put the phone on loudspeaker please; Edward and I would like to talk to both of you."

"Sure," Alice said, and soon Jasper's calm voice was filling the room.

"What's up guys?" he said.

"We were just wondering about which cake flavour you think suits me best, in terms of my personality," I asked.

"Well you're very feminine, and sexy," Alice said.

"And also very comforting and kind," Jasper added.

"Give us thirty seconds, we just want to discuss this," Alice said.

Edward and I laughed at the rushed whispering that was coming from the other end of the phone.

"Strawberry," Alice said triumphantly.

"Strawberry?" I asked. "Are you sure?"

"You're sweet and like a treat," Jasper said, as I laughed at the cheesiness.

"And who doesn't love a strawberry?" Alice added.

"Thanks guys," I said, hanging up.

"So, strawberry and vanilla it is," Edward said. "We put so much thought into their flavours, and we ended up with the most common, boring flavours."

"Never mind," I said brightly. "We can make a simple vanilla cake with strawberry filling. It'll be delicious!"

"If you're making it, then of course it will," Edward said.

I blushed. Annoyingly. I hated my blush.

"Thanks," I said. "Okay, next job; let's decide what size to make. It can't be too big, because we all have to eat them, so we can't make an eighteen inch cake."

I went over to one of the shelves and picked out a round tin.

"This is a ten inch tin," I showed him the tin. "We could use this to make the bottom layer for Emmett and Rosalie; it isn't _too_ big, especially if Emmett is eating it. Plus, these cakes should last at least a week, so it should be finished. If not, everybody can take some into their work for colleagues once they've had enough."

"That's a good idea," Edward said. "Plus, it's our first time making a wedding cake, so we don't want to make a massive one and make life really difficult for ourselves."

"Exactly," I said. "Now, there should be about three inches difference, so we're going to need a seven inch and a four inch tin for the other layers."

"Four inch?" Edward said. "That's going to be tiny."

"Well I guess we could make ours five inches," I said. "I don't really eat much cake, so you'll probably end up eating most of it anyway."

"Okay," Edward said. "We can do ours at five."

"This time, we should just do simple sandwich cakes," I said, "And make two cakes per layer and sandwich them together. Normally, there would be about four cakes, but I think it will be easier for our first time to just do two. Plus, we have to eat them all and four cakes per layer makes a massive layer."

"That makes sense," Edward said.

I pulled out the six tins that we would need and set them to one side.

"We're going to need piping bags," I said, getting two out of the relevant cupboard. "Palette knives, whisks, cooling racks." I kept pulling the things that we would need out of the cupboards and out of the shelves, and found a box to put them all in.

"Okay," I said. "I think that's everything."

Edward picked up the box, and we went back out, turning off the lights as we went. I locked the bakery again, and we drove off to the local baking store.

"There's a baking store around here?" Edward asked. "I didn't even know those things existed, let alone that there was one a few streets away."

"Yeah, they do typical baking ingredients as well as things like huge bags of fondant and modelling chocolate. The store supplies everything for my bakery," I said.

I directed Edward to the store, and he parked across the road.

I'd made a quick list while we were at the bakery, so I knew exactly what we needed. I instructed Edward to get a shopping cart, and we quickly went round the shop, getting everything that we needed.

"Why couldn't we just get this from the bakery?" Edward asked.

"Because the ingredients come out of the money I earn from the bakery, I can't just take loads of money's worth of ingredients. Equipment is different, because I can use it and just take it back tomorrow, but taking ingredients would be like taking money out of the till," I said. "How do you want to decorate the cakes? We can cover them in fondant, like a traditional cake, but what else shall we put on it?"

"We should do something simple," Edward said.

"Oh, I know!" I said. "I'll tell you later."

We quickly paid for the stuff and sped home, setting out the ingredients and equipment on the kitchen table.

"Okay, let's start with Emmett and Rosalie's cake, that one will take the longest to cook," I said.

I brought the biggest cake tin over to the counter which we had cleared to use, and then got all of the necessary ingredients.

I told Edward to weigh out each ingredient, and then I mixed them in order in Edward's mixer. I poured the thick, dark cake batter into the greased tins, and put them in the oven.

Edward then washed the mixing bowl, and I weighed out the ingredients for Alice and Jasper's cake, and we started again, making their cake, putting it in the oven, washing the mixing bowl, making our own cake and putting it in the oven.

All three cakes were quickly in the oven. I had decided to put the oven at a moderate temperature, which I knew would cook all three cakes to perfection.

"Hey, you have some batter on your nose," Edward said.

"Crap," I said, bringing my fingers up to get it off. "Where?"

"Here," he said, swiping a batter covered finger on the tip of my nose, leaving a massive blob of the vanilla mix there. "Oops, sorry," he said cheekily. "Let me take care of that for you."

He wrapped his arms around my waist and leaned down, placing a delicate kiss on the tip of my nose, sucking slightly to get rid of the mix.

"There you go," he whispered. "All clean."

I stared into his gorgeous eyes, melting against him. My skin felt on fire where he had kissed it, and I suddenly wanted his mouth on me again.

Without breaking eye contact he let me go, and returned to his normal loud self, starting to wash the mixing bowl.

"So how much longer does the first cake need?" he asked, as if nothing had happened.

"About fifteen minutes," I said, breaking out of my daze and feeling confused as anything. What had just happened?

I started to make the fresh lime curd to distract myself, and busied myself with the simple task.

I thought that I had simply imagined it, from the way that he was carrying on like nothing had happened, but my skin was still burning, so it must have happened.

What confused me the most was the way that I had responded. I'd felt a strange feeling of disappointment when his lips left my skin, and wanted them back on my skin as soon as possible. Of course I found Edward very attractive, but who didn't? I swear it's unfair to look that hot, but I'd been living with the guy for a while now, and this was the first time that I'd felt like this.

As I cooked the sugar, butter, lime juice and eggs, my thoughts drifted to the night when we had slept together.

He was quite possibly the best person that I'd slept with; I'd felt more satisfied after one night with him than I'd had with my boyfriend in high school over a month, and dear lord did Edward Cullen know how to please a woman.

I always felt safe around Edward, and he was like my best friend. I knew that he would look after me, and he wasn't afraid to tell me what he thought.

Was it possible that I was starting to have feelings for Edward Cullen?

"Bella, what shall we do now?" Edward asked, drying his hands.

"Ermm..." I said, feeling my cheeks flush again, hoping that it wasn't obvious on my face what I'd been thinking. "We need to make the buttercream for the big cake." I turned the heat off to the curd. "This is done, I just need to sieve it and put it in the fridge."

I chalked it down to the pregnancy hormones, and decided to carry on as normal.

Edward had pulled out a big sieve and glass bowl for me, so I sieved the curd through it, chucked a load of lime zest in it, placed some plastic wrap over the top, and put it in the fridge, putting the pan in the sink and soaking it with water.

We then made a creamy buttercream with rose water, adding a little drop of food colouring to turn it a delicate shade of baby pink.

Edward dipped in a finger in it a tasted it, moaning beautifully. "Oh my god Bella!" he said. "This is amazing!"

The noises he was making were making my lady parts tingle again, as they had when he kissed my nose, and I was again baffled as to why my body was having such a reaction to him today.

I put the frosting into another bowl and put it in the fridge to firm up a bit, and Edward washed the bowl once again.

"Okay, the first cake should be done," I said, pulling open the oven door and pressing a finger on top of the cake. "Yep, it's done."

I pulled it out and put it to one side to cool slightly.

"The small one should almost be done as well," I said, testing that one too, before taking it out. "We just need to wait for the last one. It should just be another ten minutes or so. There's just our filling left to make."

Edward passed me all of the ingredients I would need and a clean pan, and I made a simple, but damn tasty, strawberry compote, cooking down the luscious berries until they had completely broken down to form a glossy strawberry jam.

"Edward, can you get the last cakes out please?" I said.

I cooked down the strawberries a bit more, until they were a thick, sticky mess, and put them into a chilled bowl to cool it down, adding some orange zest to bring out the flavour a bit more. I put it in the fridge, and soaked the pan.

"Is that cake done?" I asked.

"I don't know," Edward said. "It seems a bit wobbly."

I wiped my hands and pressed down a finger. "It's done," I said. "I tend to give it a couple of minutes less than it needs, because a cake keeps on cooking when you take it out of the oven. Admittedly, it cooks very slowly, but it keeps cooking for about ten minutes, so by the time it's taken out of the tin, it's perfect."

"Okay," he said.

"The biggest and the small cakes are ready to be turned out," I said, and flipped them onto cooling racks.

"Do we need to wait for them to cool a bit more?" Edward asked.

"Yeah, we'll give them about ten minutes," I said. "In the mean time, we need to clear the table, we'll need a lot of arm room to decorate and stack these."

We cleared the table completely, and I put the curd and the compote into the freezer for a few minutes.

I laid out a large silicon mat that I'd brought from the bakery, and a big wooden chopping board, while Edward washed up the last few dishes.

"You can hardly tell that we've been cooking in here," Edward said. "It's completed spotless!"

"Well, you're such a clean freak, you keep washing everything the minute I'm finished with it," I said.

"Well that could be the reason I suppose," he said.

"Okay, so now we can build up the wedding cake," I said. "Can you bring the two big cakes over please, and get the rose buttercream out of the fridge."

"Yes Ma'am," he said, bringing over the cooling rack which held both big cakes.

I lay them down on the chopping board, and put the cooling rack to one side.

"Edward, you know that pan on the cooker? Can you bring it here please," I said, and he did as I asked.

"What's that?" he said.

"It's a sugar syrup, I made it quickly earlier. I'm going to brush it over the cake when I've filled it; it makes the cake soft, and keeps it for longer," I said.

"You can do this bit," Edward said. "You're the professional."

"It's really easy, you can do it," I said.

"No no," he said. "You're the one who'll need to make wedding cakes."

I took a palette knife, and put a generous amount of the buttercream on top of one of the cakes, smoothing it over, until it was evenly spread. I then put the other cake on top, and used a pastry brush to cover the whole thing with the sugar syrup, before covering the outside with the buttercream as well in a thin layer.

I then transferred the cake onto a small cake stand, while I rolled out some white fondant, and applied the fondant to the cake, smoothing it over, making sure to cover the whole thing. When the top and sides were covered, I put on some gloves, and picked up the cake from the base, and put the fondant on the bottom as well.

"Not everyone always covers the bottom as well," I said to an enraptured Edward. "But seeing as we're splitting up the layers for each other, I think it would be a good idea in this case."

"Why do you need to wear gloves?" he asked.

"I didn't want to make fingerprints all over the cake," I said. "Normally, a wedding cake maker cuts a disc of cardboard to put at the bottom of the cake, actually fitted into the cake itself, to pick it up and move it around easily. I forgot to get some, so I'm doing it this way instead."

"Could you turn out the last few cakes onto the cooling racks," I said, and he did as I asked.

The bottom was now covered with fondant, and I cut away the excess and manipulated the fondant, moulding the seam until it was no longer visible. I went over the whole cake with a fondant smoother, and it looked perfectly covered.

"Wow," Edward said.

"You're saying that a lot today," I grinned. "Am I that amazing?"

"Indeed you are," he said.

I got out some cardboard discs, and put the cake one of them, using a sharp knife to cut away to excess cardboard around the edge of the cake.

"I thought you said you didn't buy any of those?" Edward said.

"This is another type of cardboard," I said. "It's too thin to use for that, it wouldn't support the weight of the cake if I wanted to hold it for a long time. This will literally provide a slight base for the cake, so that all of the weight is not pressing down on the next cake."

I put the cake on a fancy cake stand that I'd brought from the bakery.

"Cake number one is done," I said. "Two to go. Sure you don't want a go?"

"Positive," he said.

I moved onto Alice and Jasper's cake, joining the two cakes with lemon curd and sprinkling over some toasted desiccated coconut, before covering it in the same way that I had done Emmett and Rosalie's.

I pushed four straws into the first cake in a diamond shape near the centre, pushing them all the way down until they hit the bottom, and them trimming them so about an inch was showing.

I made some holes in the cardboard at the bottom of the next cake using my knife, and laid it on top, making sure that the straws went into the cake to support it.

I covered the last cake in the same way, and laid it on top in the same way, and we were looking at a small, three tier wedding cake.

"Okay," I said, turning to look at Edward, and was surprised to see him staring at me.

"What?" I said self consciously, tucking a strand of hair behind my ear.

"You look so beautiful when you bake," he said. "So happy and relaxed."

"Thanks," I said, not sure what else to say.

"So how did you want to decorate it?" he asked.

"I thought that I would pipe some patterns onto the cake," I said.

"Go ahead," he said.

I quickly mixed up some icing, and made a small piping bag out of greaseproof paper.

"What colour?" I asked him.

"Blue," he said.

I added a little bit of blue food colouring, until it was a beautiful pale blue colour, lighter than Tiffany blue, a sort of baby blue.

I started with the bottom cake, and drew a beautiful motif along the bottom, about an inch high, of swirling flowers and leaves, an intricate pattern. I did the same on the other two cakes, before making the pattern on the top cake cover the whole cake, to make it look a bit different. I then added regular dots on the bottom layer, lining them up, making a line of dots first, about two inches apart from each other, then another layer above this, making the dots between the dots along the bottom, and carried on in this way until the cake was done. The dots looked subtle, as I hadn't put too many on, but gave the cake a bit of variety.

"Holy crap," Edward said. "That is one hell of a wedding cake!"

"I know, do you think it's too much?" I said, suddenly anxious. "I got a little bit carried away-"

"Bella, I didn't mean it like that," Edward said. "It's fucking amazing! Let's call the guys and tell them to come over!"

"Wait," I said, an evil thought crossing my mind. "Let's mess with Emmett a bit first. Can I phone him?"

"Sure," Edward said.

I dialled his number, and he answered quickly.

"Hello?" he said. I'd put the phone on loudspeaker so that Edward could hear what I was about to do as well.

"Hey Em," I said. "Is Rose around?"

"She's in the bathroom." Perfect.

"Oh, well could you tell her to pop over to Edward's, I've just finished making your wedding cake," I said, as Edward began to chuckle.

"WHAT?" Emmett said. "We're not getting married!"

"Really? Are you sure?" I said.

"Crap, did I propose or something when I was drunk?" he rambled, beginning to sound panicked.

"Well, could you both just come over? We'll sort it out while you're here," I said. "Bring your stuff as well, you might as well just stay the night here, it's late already."

"That," Edward said. "Was genius."

"Why thank you," I said, before doing to same thing to Jasper, and frazzling the normally calm guy.

Needless to say, half an hour later we opened the door to two rather pissed off guys and very happy looking girls.

Alice and Rosalie immediately pounced on me, laughing and squeezing the hell out of me.

"Guys! The baby!" I said, and they pulled away a tiny bit, apologizing and rubbing my stomach.

"What the hell Bella!" Emmett whinged, and Jasper merely glared at me.

"Come in and you will see," I said mysteriously. They followed me, dumping their bags on the living room floor.

Edward came out of the kitchen. "Hey guys," he said, as everyone greeted him. "Bella, I just took some pictures of it, if you want to put it on your website or anything."

"Thanks," I said. "Come into the kitchen guys."

I lead everyone into the kitchen, and they all went silent.

"Where did you get this beautiful thing from?" Alice said breathlessly, in awe of the cake in front of her.

"We made it," I said.

"Fuck off," Emmett said. "Where did you really get it from?"

"We really made it," I said.

"That's amazing!" Jasper said. "But why did you make a wedding cake?"

"Edward was bored, and apparently when he's bored he likes to make wedding cake," I said dryly.

"A client asked Bella if she'd make her a wedding cake, so I thought we should practise," Edward said, ignoring me.

"This is the first one you've ever made? And in this kitchen?" Alice said.

"Hey!" Edward said. "What's wrong with my kitchen?"

"You have one oven and hardly any decent equipment," Alice said.

"Thanks," he said, rolling his eyes.

"Yeah, I've never made one before," I said. "This was my first go."

"She did most of it herself as well," Edward said. "All I did was get equipment and wash up."

"Well I'm sorry, I did ask-"

"No no Bella, I didn't want to help and ruin your cake anyway, I just meant that you managed to pull this off yourself in about five hours," Edward said.

"Five hours?" everyone said, staring at me.

"Ermm...yeah," I said, blushing.

Rosalie gave a low whistle. "Girl, you've got talent."

"We made a layer for each of you," I said, uncomfortable with all of the attention on me. "As couples I mean. Emmett and Rosalie, yours is the bottom layer, and it's chocolate and rose. Alice and Jasper, yours is the middle layer, and it's a lime and coconut cake, and we have the top layer of strawberry and vanilla."

"So you're a couple now?" Emmett asked slyly.

"Well," I blushed again, not meeting anyone's eye, at the same time that Edward coughed loudly.

"So that's why you were asking us about cake flavours for you," Rosalie said, changing the subject. I gave her a grateful smile, and she winked at me in return.

"Yeah and thanks for giving us really crap, boring ones," Edward said. "We put so much thought into your cake flavours, and all you can come up with for us is strawberry and vanilla?"

"Well if we'd known why you wanted them, then we might have given better ones," Alice said. "There's nothing wrong with a vanilla and strawberry cake."

"Of course not, you all have your lovely, exotic flavours, and we get bog standard strawberry and vanilla," Edward said playfully.

"So," I said. "You can take your cakes, they should last at least a week, eat as much as you want, give some to other people, take it to work, whatever, just don't waste it, even if you give it to a homeless person, do whatever you want with it, just don't put it in the bin. I hate wasting food when there are so many needy people out there with nothing."

"Thanks Bella," Rosalie said, and soon everyone was joining in.

"No one's got work tomorrow right?" Edward asked, and everyone shook their heads. "Okay, guys, if you can help me move the furniture and vacuum the floors, and the ladies can put out pillows and blankets on the floor, we can have a movie marathon!"

"Movie marathon of what?" Jasper said.

"Why don't we all write an idea on a piece of paper, and pick one at random, and we'll watch that? If Edward doesn't have that film, then one of the guys can go to the video store around the corner and get it," Rosalie said, and everyone voiced their agreement.

"Do I get two, seeing as I'm two people?" I asked slyly, as we all wrote down our choices.

"No way!" Alice said.

It was worth a try.

"Okay, everyone fold them up and put them in this bowl," I said, handing round a mixing bowl. "Who's picking?"

Everyone began to argue loudly.

"Seeing as I'm two people-"

"NO!" Everyone yelled.

Again: it was worth a try.

It was decided that we would play rock paper scissors in our couples, with the winners going on to play against the other two winners in a three.

Edward beat me straight away with rock to my scissors, and he then played against Alice and Emmett. Emmett was the next one knocked out, and we flipped a coin between the remaining two, with Alice winning.

Why did we make everything so complicated? You'd think that we were young school children or something.

Alice picked out a piece of paper, unfolding it slowly, trying to be dramatic, and a massive smile crossed her face.

"Get the fuck outta here!" she squealed.

"Beverly hills cop it is!" Rosalie yelled.

"You picked that?" Emmett said.

"Yep," she said.

"And here I was thinking you chicks liked all kinds of airy fairy crap," he said, sounding impressed.

"Oh we do," I said. "Just not as much as some classic comedy and swearing."

The guys got busy with rearranging the furniture, and the girls and I pulled out all of our duvets, pillows and cushions. For some reason Edward had shitloads of this stuff in his airing cupboard. Edward was quickly vacuuming the floor, and once he was done, we set out all of the duvets along the floor.

Everyone got changed into their night clothes, and we settled down with enough snacks to last a lifetime, watching one of the best film series ever made.

Alice and Jasper were snuggled into each other, and Emmett and Rosalie were playfully feeding eachother popcorn and chips, and for some reason I felt unexplainably lonely; they all had someone.

Edward carefully slipped an arm around my waist, as if he'd just read my mind; I looked up at him, and his eyes seemed to be fixed on the TV, but a small smile played at his lips. I moved closer to him, and he pulled me into his chest, and I instantly felt happier, as I usually did when Edward was around me.

The niggling thoughts began to take over my mind again, and I found myself becoming less aware of Eddie Murphy, and more aware of the man lying next to me, his muscular arm wrapped around me, and the movement of his chest as he breathed. The way I could feel the rumble through his body whenever he spoke, and the delicious smell that was emanating from him. His muscular body, moulding perfectly to my own, and his protective nature.

I caught myself and berated myself for thinking like that, when nothing would ever happen between us; I kept on giving myself false hope, and refused to let myself hope for something which could never happen. I'd been let down enough already.

These thoughts were really beginning to annoy me, and I had no idea what had triggered them, or even how to stop them.

What I did know, was that I was beginning to have feelings for Edward, and I needed to stop them in some way; I had too much emotional baggage, and I wouldn't bog him down like that.

And anyway, why would someone like him want someone like me?

I wasn't sexy, or pretty, I wasn't confident or graceful. And I was tainted.

I was an ex-whore.

A tear slipped from my eye, and I brushed it aside quickly with my fingers, before anyone could see. Luckily, they were all laughing at a particularly funny scene, and didn't notice.

We were half way through the second film when we decided to call it a night, too exhausted to keep watching the films, and Edward turned off the TV and the lights, as everyone went to sleep.

I lay awake, too afraid to go to sleep. I was still getting the nightmares, and I didn't want to wake everyone up by screaming throughout the night. Not that I screamed much anymore, but knowing my luck, tonight I would.

"Bella?" Edward asked. "Are you awake?"

"Yes," I sighed, turning over and lying on my back. He propped himself up on one elbow next to me.

"Do you want to sleep in your bed?" he asked.

"No, I'm okay," I said.

"Can't you sleep?"

"No."

"Is it because of the nightmares?"

"How do you know about those?" I asked, shocked.

"Well a lot of the time you start fighting in your sleep," he said. "The first time, you were talking and seemed agitated, and it woke me up, so I calmed you down. Since then, I've been keeping an eye on you, and I come and lie down with you when you have nightmares," he said sheepishly. "Sorry."

"You've been sleeping in my bed all this time, and I didn't notice?" I said. "But if you woke me up, then why don't I remember?"

"You're always still half asleep Bella," he chuckled.

"I...fight in my sleep?" I said.

"Yeah."

"That time you had a bleeding nose in the morning..." I trailed off, suddenly remembering. "Was that me?"

He nodded. "It's fine, it didn't hurt, I didn't even notice."

"I'm so sorry Edward," I said.

"Honestly, it's fine Bella," he said.

"Thank you. For looking out for me."

"Not at all. Now, did you want to go to sleep in your bed?"

I nodded, getting up. I was halfway to the door when I realised that Edward wasn't with me.

"Aren't you coming?" I asked. "If you're going to end up in my bed anyway, you might as well come now."

He got up and followed me eagerly, a strange look in his eyes. A sort of surprise, mixed with happiness.

We lay down on opposite ends of the bed. I lay on my back, awkwardly, and he lay next to me, our arms touching.

"How do you normally sleep?" I asked.

"I normally lie on my side with you against me," he said.

I turned to lie on my side and he mirrored the action. I leaned myself against him, resting my head on his chest. "Like this?" I whispered.

He wound an arm around me pulling me closer to him, and stroked my hair with his other hand.

"Yes," he breathed.

The way we were laying seemed to be very intimate, yet I did not feel the slightest bit uncomfortable. On the contrary, I felt more comfortable than I had in ages, and I revelled in his touch.

"Bella," Edward said quietly.

"Yeah?"

"My favourite cake flavour is very weird."

I laughed. "Now I have to know!"

"I had it once before in a store in Connecticut. Lychee rose cake."

I was silent for a moment, before I began to giggle helplessly.

"It's not funny," he said. "It is heavenly!"

"I'm sure it is, it's just such a feminine choice!" I laughed, and he groaned.

"This is why I didn't tell you," he said, pretending to be annoyed.

"I think it's cute," I said. "Next you'll be saying your favourite colour is pink." He didn't say anything. "Oh my god it is, isn't it!"

"No!" he said. "Go to sleep Bella."

A few minutes later my giggles finally died down.

"Edward," I said quietly.

"Bella."

"Do you feel uncomfortable in this position?"

"Do you?"

"Nope."

"Then nor do I love."

I drifted off to sleep, content in the knowledge that Edward was here, and he would keep me safe.

That was the first night that I didn't have nightmares.

Just a few hours later I was awake, feeling refreshed. The sun was pouring through the windows, lighting up the room, and I was lying with one of the most perfect men on the planet.

I snuggled closer to him, and his arms wrapped tighter around me.

"Morning," he said.

"Morning," I replied.

"No nightmares?" he asked.

"None," I said happily. Maybe they were gone for good.

"That's strange," he said. "They just suddenly stopped."

"We don't know for sure yet. For all we know, they might be back tomorrow night," I said.

"I've got a feeling they're gone for good," Edward said. "Call it a hunch."

"Oh? And why do you think that?"

"Because Edward's here," he said smugly. "When I sleep here all night, I keep the nightmares at bay."

I snorted. "Whatever you say, O protector of mine."

"You can mock me, but just wait and see," he said.

"Okay tiger," I said. "I'm going to take a quick shower."

"Why? You smell great," he said.

"I just want a shower," I said, getting up. "I'll be back in a minute."

I quickly brushed my teeth and took a shower, washing my hair thoroughly and scrubbing my body with the first shower gel I got hold of.

It was supposed to be a really hot day today, so I just put on some loose capri pants and a floaty top with some sandals, all courtesy of Alice of course. I quickly brushed my hair through, not bothering to dry it. The top was light and loose, and it hid my small baby bump. It wasn't that I ashamed of my pregnancy, far from it; I just didn't think it was wise walking around the city pregnant while James' verdict had not been reached yet.

It had been brought up in court as part of a medical assessment that James had undergone a vasectomy years ago, and if anyone related to the case got wind that I was pregnant, it could cause problems, as it would prove that I had committed adultery. Until he was sentenced, it would be best to keep my pregnancy hidden. Besides, I'd only have to wait a couple of weeks or so more. I was surprised that my pregnancy had not been brought up in court, but I just called it my good fortune and decided not to say anything myself. It would just slow down the court proceedings and make life difficult.

When I came out, Edward had gone, most likely to get dressed himself. He had already made the bed for me, so I threw open the windows, and went to the kitchen.

The others were all still asleep, so I decided to make breakfast for everyone, when I remembered that we'd just left the wedding cake on the kitchen table.

I decided to just make breakfast and leave the cake where it was; the guys could just eat in the living room instead of at the kitchen table.

I mixed up some pancake batter, and put some frozen blueberries and maple syrup in a pan to make a quick jam-slash-syrup to pour over the pancakes. I was just putting on some coffee when Alice walked into the kitchen, rubbing her eyes tiredly.

"Who knew, even the pixie gets worn out sometimes!" I teased.

"Shut up," she mumbled, before yawning loudly as I laughed at her. "It's nothing a cup of coffee won't fix. Just let me get changed. Can I use your shower?"

"Of course, go ahead," I said. "Make sure to use mine though, I think Edward might be in his."

Alice nodded, before stumbling into the living room. I could see her looking for her bag, walking into the sofa as she did so, waking up the other three.

I was pretty much finished making breakfast by now, I just needed to fry the pancakes when everyone wanted them, so I decided to go wake everyone up.

I opened all of the curtains, letting the sunlight stream in, much to the annoyance of Emmett, Jasper and Rosalie, who obviously weren't morning people.

"Rise and shine!" I trilled, opening up the windows as well.

"Bella," Emmett moaned, burying his head in his pillow. "Shut the curtains!"

"Nope," I said.

"Please!"

"Sorry Emmett," I said. "Come on, it's 8am already."

"What the fuck?" Emmett said. "8am? So why are you waking us up?"

"It's going to be a really nice day, I thought we could go out and do something," I said.

"She's right guys," Edward said, coming out of his bedroom, freshly showered and shaved.

"Edward, control your woman," Emmett said.

"Sorry Emmett," he said. "My woman can do whatever she wants."

He winked at me, and I felt the blood rising to my cheeks. It was kind of hot how he was putting a claim on me, naming me as his.

"Up you get," he ordered. "One of you can use my shower, I'm done."

Jasper groaned one last time, before heaving himself up to look for his bag.

"It's only because I love you Bella," he said. "Although that little stunt with the wedding cake yesterday has made me seriously doubt that."

"Alice was using the iron in my room, so I asked her to leave it in there if any of you want to use it," Edward said.

"Swan, you are beginning to get on my nerves," Rosalie said.

"You got on mine from the moment I met you," I answered. "Get up."

They both got up reluctantly, and Edward began to move the furniture back, while I folded up the duvets and put them back in the airing cupboard along with the pillows.

Alice and Jasper came back out of the bathrooms at the same time, and Rosalie and Emmett went into them.

"Come on guys, I'll make you some coffee," I said once the room was back to normal.

"The cake is even more impressive in daylight than it was last night," Alice said.

"I still can't believe you managed to pull that off in just a matter of hours," Jasper said.

Edward pulled out a camera and began to take pictures of it again. "So that you have some of it during the day as well," he said.

I poured the other three some coffee, choosing just some orange juice for myself; I was limiting my caffeine intake while I was pregnant. That shit can be harmful to the baby.

I began to cook some pancakes, giving everyone some as soon as they came off.

"Something smells good," Emmett said, walking in.

About ten minutes later Rosalie walked in as well, taking a plate of pancakes off me, and practically prying the jug of blueberries off Alice, who was back to her normal self now that she was full of caffeine.

"So what shall we do now?" Jasper said.

"Why don't we head out to Orchard Beach?" Emmett said. "It looks like a nice day, and that's the closest beach to here. It's only half an hour away."

"Yeah, we can pack a picnic, and spend the day there. It's still early; if we leave fast we can beat the traffic. We can take two cars!" Alice was getting more and more excited.

"I can take the top of my jeep down!" Emmett said happily. "I love doing that!"

"Sounds good to me," Jasper said, and Rosalie and Edward soon agreed with him.

"It should be fun," I said.

"Right, Emmett and Edward, you two can drive," Alice said, taking charge. "We're all going to need to pop home and pack swim suits and towels, Bella I bought you some beach wear, it's in your closet with your underwear. What shall we do for food?"

"Let's take the barbecue!" Emmett said. "You can barbecue at Orchard Beach. We can just buy some stuff for burgers and some pre-made salad, corn, all that kind of stuff!"

"And how are we going to get a barbecue there?" Rosalie asked, smacking his head.

"If Jasper takes his car as well, we can drive there as couples. One couple can take the barbecue, one can take swimsuits and towels, and the other can take food and drinks. Holy shit- we could race there!" Emmett said.

"Emmett?" Jasper said. "I have a motorbike, not a car."

"Well drive Alice's car you pussy!" Emmett said. "We have to race there!"

"Okay then, Em and Rose, you guys take the barbecue, Jasper and Alice can brings towels and stuff and we'll bring the food," Edward said.

"Okay, now that's sorted, everyone go home, get everything you need, and we'll meet back here in forty five minutes," Alice said. "At about 9.15am, that leaves us plenty of time to get to the beach before the real traffic begins."

"Emmett, do you actually have a barbecue?" Jasper asked.

"Yeah, remember I bought one last year and never used it?" Emmett said. "I keep it in my store cupboard."

"Okay everyone, get moving!" Alice said, and everyone picked up their bags and left hurriedly.

"We need to visit the supermarket," Edward said, grabbing his car keys, and leading me out of the apartment.

Once we were at the store, he grabbed a cart and then stopped. "What kind of food do you need for a beach barbecue?" he asked.

"Well, we need snacks first of all," I said. "We should get some chips and salsa. They won't spoil in the sun."

"And guacamole," he said, throwing some into the cart. "And hummus."

"Why are you putting two lots of everything in?" I asked.

"Emmett's coming with us," he said. "The guy eats like a maniac"

"We should get some pre-cut salads," I said, and we got four different types.

"We'll mix them all up in a bowl," Edward said.

We went on to buy beef burgers, hot dogs, corn on the cob, potato salad, coleslaw, beer, iced tea, fruit juices for me, water, marshmallows, condiments and a huge bag of ice, not to mention essentials like paper towels, disposable plates, cups and cutlery and a cooler.

"I think we've got enough food now," I said.

"We still need a dessert though," Edward said.

"We have the fruit," I said.

He glared at me. "Fruit is not a dessert."

"Well we have marshmallows," I said.

"Still not a proper dessert. Ice cream would melt in the cooler..." he said, thinking hard.

"Are you thinking?" I asked him.

"Yes. Why?"

"Looks painful."

"Thanks Bella."

"Anytime."

"Why don't we get a cheesecake?" he said. "It should be fine in the cooler."

"Okay," I said. "Let's get a New York cheesecake."

We paid for everything and then rushed back to our apartment; we only had fifteen minutes until everyone was meant to get back.

"Let's get our swimsuits and towels together first, and then we can pack the stuff in a cooler," Edward said, and we went into our own rooms to get our things together.

I went into my closet, and sure enough near my underwear, Alice had neatly put some swimsuits for me.

I picked out a cute two piece tankini, which had a halter neck top which stopped just about my belly button, and some boy shorts to go with it; not as revealing as a bikini, but not too conservative for the beach either. It was a chocolate brown colour, with white polka dots on it and a turquoise border along the bottom of the top piece and under my breasts. Because it was a halter neck, it stopped half way done my back.

I put it on under my other clothes quickly, loving it even more when it was on; it was fitted around my breasts, but straight underneath it flared out a bit and became looser, which looked good and hid my small baby bump.

Alice had also bought me a matching brown kaftan, which I pulled out and put into the straw tote bag that I was taking, before putting my normal clothes back on top. I put a fabric hair band in my hair; it was one of those thick fabric ones, and I put it about half way on the top of my hair, tying it underneath my hair at the base of my head, letting the rest of the material trail down my back with my hair over it. I pulled some of my hair in front over my shoulders, packed some sun cream, a book, sunglasses and a hat, and went back to the kitchen, where Edward was already packing things into the cooler.

"I doubt that Emmett will remember tongs and stuff, so I've packed some," Edward said. "I also put some big bowls and serving spoons in, and I packed you a couple of towels as well."

"Thanks," I said. "I was just going to go get some, but you beat me to it."

"You look great," he said.

"Thanks," I said.

"Okay, the cooler's packed, we're ready to go," he said. "The others are late."

I went round the apartment and shut all of the windows. It wouldn't be good to come home and find we'd been burgled. I locked the balcony in Edward's room, admiring the beautiful view of the city for a moment.

It was strange to think how different New York looked from the two sides of the apartment; the kitchen also had a balcony, which looked over the bottom end of central park, yet from Edward's balcony you could see the office buildings, the skyscrapers. My room didn't have a balcony, but my window view was of Central Park; I wasn't sure which I liked best. They were both amazing.

I went back into the kitchen.

"I've locked all of the windows and your balcony," I said.

"The kitchen door to the balcony is locked as well," Edward said.

"So we're completely ready to leave now," I said.

Just then there was a lour banging on the door, and I went to open it.

"Ready to go?" Emmett asked.

"Yeah," I said. "We're just waiting for Jasper and Alice."

"Hey man," Edward said, walking in with the cooler. "I'm just going to go put this in the car."

"Okay," I said. "Why don't you just stay down there when you're done, I'll wait for Alice and Jasper up here and then lock up."

"Okay," he said. "See you in a minute."

"I'll wait downstairs as well," Emmett said. "Rosalie's in the car."

Emmett and Edward went downstairs and I shut the door, waiting for the last couple to show up. Ten minutes later, there was a knock at the door, and I found Jasper on the other side.

"You're late," I said, picking up my bag and going out to the hallway, locking the door behind me.

"Sorry, Alice couldn't decide what to wear," he said.

"Why doesn't that surprise me," I laughed.

"Do you want me to carry your bag for you?" he said. "It looks kind of big."

"I'm okay Jasper," I said, touched by his concern. "Thanks though."

He grabbed it off me anyway, putting it on his shoulder as we walked down the stairs.

"Very manly," I laughed.

"Very funny," he said, putting an arm around my shoulder in a brotherly way. "So how are you?" he asked.

"I'm good," I said.

"Honestly?"

"Yeah," I said. "I mean of course, I have regrets and stuff to sort through, but who doesn't? I just have a bit more than usual people, but I'm getting there."

"Good," he said. "We're all here for you Bells."

"I know," I said. "Thanks Jasper."

"Anytime honey."

We reached the car park, where all of the three cars were parked in a line, Edward's Volvo, Emmett's Jeep and Alice's Porsche.

"Okay, so the men are driving," Emmett said. "Nice handbag Jasper."

"Everyone has to go the same way, via the I-95," Edward said. "No shortcuts, if one car has to stop for whatever reason, the other two have to as well."

"Okay, we know the rules, we have raced before Edward," Emmett whined. "Can we go now please?"

"Fine," Edward said. "Everyone get into your cars."

Jasper handed me back my bag, before running off to join Alice in the car.

Edward opened the windows up, and made sure that I was belted.

"We're ready," he called out of the open window.

"Us too," Jasper said.

"Okay," Emmett said, as Rosalie smirked beside him. "Ready, steady, go!"

Edward suddenly sped off, immediately overtaking Jasper, but Emmett was in the lead. He moved into the lane beside Emmett, as we joined a busy main road, and the traffic was beginning to slow down. We were a few cars back from Emmett on the next lane, and I could see the stop sign in front of us change to amber. Emmett began beeping at the car in front of him to move, but it stopped at the light. Luckily, the traffic in out lane began to move faster, as if the impending red light was making people speed up, and we drove past Emmett and the stop sign, going into first place.

Until Jasper pulled out from a side street in front of us.

"What the fuck?" I said. "I thought you said no shortcuts!"

"I did, but this was just a small one, so it doesn't count. A shortcut is meant by not taking to agreed route. As long as he takes the I-95, he's fine," Edward said. "It's okay, we'll still beat the prick."

The Porsche weaved in and out of traffic agilely, with fluid movements, which is more than can be said for the pixie; I could see her bobbing around the place when they went over a pothole. After about ten minutes, we joined the interstate, still in second place, until Edward suddenly sped up and overtook Jasper, taking me by surprise, as well as the pixie and Jasper judging by their angry beeping horn and profanities being screeched in Alice's high pitched voice.

Jasper and Alice tried several times to overtake us, but without success, and we won by about ten minutes.

"You took your time," Edward said, when Jasper and Alice finally pulled up and parked next to us.

"Jasper was driving like a girl," Alice complained, glaring at Jasper.

"Baby, it's not my fault we got stuck behind the truck," Jasper said.

"Maybe if you'd driven faster then we wouldn't have been stuck behind him! Edward managed to beat him!" Alice said.

"Okay pixie," I said, cutting in. "Face it; we're just better than you are."

"No you're not!" Alice said angrily.

"Yes we are," I said. "Are those last year's style sandals I spy?"

Alice gasped. "You bitch!"

I smiled widely at her, just as Emmett and Rosalie pulled up.

"And where the fuck were you?" Edward asked Emmett.

"Sorry bro, I got a bit of a headache, Rose had to help me out," he grinned.

"Too much fucking information Emmett," Edward groaned.

"No, you don't understand," Emmett said.

"Yes, we understood fine Emmett, you got road head," Jasper said.

"Oh," Emmett said, his face falling a bit. "I guess you pussies aren't as innocent as you claim."

He started to unload the barbecue, and Jasper grabbed the bag of coals. I took the bag of towels off of Edward, and he carried the cooler, and we made our way down to the beach. It wasn't too busy, which was surprising considering the hot weather.

We found a completely deserted sport, and set everything down. Alice had bought a shitload of towels, and we set a load out for everyone to sit one while the guys began setting up the barbecue.

Before long, the barbecue was sizzling, and everything had been set out for a fun day at the beach.

"We don't need to barbecue just yet, so we'll let it burn out this time," Emmett said. "And the next time we want to use it, it'll heat up faster."

The guys stripped down to their trunks and ran into the sea, while we girls waited and put some sun cream on first, being the more organised gender.

Rosalie looked stunning in her hot pink skimpy bikini, while Alice had also gone down the polka dot route, wearing a black and white spotted bikini with a black sarong.

I stripped down to my beach clothes and pulled my light kaftan over the top.

The guys appeared to be having some sort of water fight in the clear blue sea, and Emmett seemed to be winning, with Jasper and Edward being given a constant tidal wave from Emmett.

We finished putting our sun cream on, and the girls ran to join the guys in the sea while I decided to stay on the beach for a while. I lay down on the towels and put my sunglasses on, fishing my book out of my bag.

"Bella!" Alice called. "You can read at home, come in the water!"

"I'll come in the water later Alice," I said.

"Come on Bella," Emmett said. "I promise you can be on my team, I won't let anyone splash you!"

"Who else is on your team?" I called.

"No one," Emmett said. "It's all of the pansies and Rosalie against me, and they're still losing!"

"And you promise you won't let any of them near me?" I said.

"Of course not!" Emmett said.

"Okay then," I said, getting up, pulling off my kaftan and wading through the water until I reached Emmett.

"You stand behind me," Emmett whispered. "I've got a plan."

"What?" I whispered.

"Team talk!" he yelled at the others. "Take as long as you want, we'll start when both teams are ready."

He turned back to me.

"So what's you genius plan?" I asked.

"You're pregnant," he announced.

I waited for a moment, expecting him to expand.

"Well done for noticing," I said sarcastically.

"So you play the pregnant card," he said. "Keel over, scream in pain, they'll all come to see what's wrong, and then I'll strike!"

I stared at him for a moment.

"I'm not doing that!" I said, horrified.

"Why not?" he asked.

"It could tempt fate to actually harm my baby!"

"Wow, I never pegged you as the superstitious type," Emmett said.

"Although, I could get a non pregnancy related issue. Like sudden stomach ache," I said.

"How is stomach ache non pregnancy related?" Emmett said.

"Indigestion," I grinned. "I'll say I have stomach ache, hold my stomach. The idiots all think that I'm really fragile now that I'm pregnant, they'll all come rushing over to see the problem, at which point you pelt them with water and then I'll announce it must have been indigestion!"

"Genius!" Emmett said. "I'll block you throughout the game, so that you don't get too much water. If you think you're about the fall over, don't be afraid to grab hold of me, we don't want anything to happen to the baby. Right, let's kick some ass!" He turned to the other team. "We're ready!"

"So are we since half an hour ago," Edward said dryly.

They began to push water at us, and Emmett did the same, standing in front of me and blocking me from the force of the water. A few minutes later, he turned to me and winked slyly. I took that as my cue and shrieked, holding my stomach.

As predicted, everyone ran over to me, a fusillade of questions coming my way.

"What's wrong Bella? Is it the baby?" Edward asked urgently, holding me up.

Just then, Emmett splashed all of them with the biggest splash, drenching everyone with water and miraculously missing me.

"Must have just been indigestion," I shrugged.

"That was low, even for you Swan," Edward said.

Emmett quickly ran over and picked me up.

"Before you take my team mate captive!" he said.

"Emmett, how old are you?" Jasper said.

"Shall we eat now?" I asked. "I'm starting to get hungry."

"Okay," Emmett said. "I was getting hungry myself."

We went back onto the beach and towelled off as the guys began fiddling with the barbecue, trying to act macho, and before long, everything was sizzling on the barbecue, tantalising smells permeating the air around us.

We girls set out the dishes on the towels and put out all of the condiments and drinks, mixing up all four salads in the big bowl that Edward had packed.

"Here you go Bella," Jasper said, handing me a burger.

"Thank you," I said, taking it from him and biting into it. "This is delicious!"

"Well, I'm known to be a fantastic barbecue chef," Emmett boasted.

"Yeah, like the time you burnt all of our four of July food, and blamed it on the sun for blinding you and leaving you unable to see when the food was done," Edward smirked.

"Piss off Edward," Emmett muttered as we all laughed at him.

"Stop taking the piss out of my man," Rosalie said, as she wrapped herself around Emmett.

"Aww, bless, little Emmett needs his woman to defend him," Jasper taunted in a childish voice as Emmett scowled at him. Rosalie leaned up and whispered something in his ear, and he instantly began to smile broadly. I had a feeling that none of us would want to know what she'd whispered to cause such a reaction out of him.

Everyone began to eat, still continuing to laugh and joke around, but less seriously than before; I had a feeling that no one wanted a food fight to be started because of an off colour comment about Emmett's mental capacity.

When the burgers were all eaten, the hot dogs had long vanished, and the cheesecake had been reduced to a pile of crumbs, I lay back, too full up with the delicious food to move.

Rosalie and Alice quickly packed everything away and threw the dirty plates and napkins in a nearby trashcan, and everyone decided to play a game of beach volleyball, using the net and ball that Emmett had packed.

"I think I'll stay here," I said. "I can't play volleyball at the best of times, and I'm pregnant at the moment, and I don't want to fall over."

"Okay," Rosalie said. "You can act as referee if you want."

"No, it's okay, I don't really understand the scoring and stuff. I'm just going to read my book," I said.

"Do you want me to sit here with you and keep you company?" Edward offered. "I don't mind."

"No it's fine, you go and enjoy yourself," I said. "I'll be fine."

I gave him a reassuring smile, and he seemed appeased.

"Well how are we going to split up the teams?" Emmett asked. "We have an odd number."

"I'll pick teams," I offered. "I'm not playing, so I'm pretty impartial."

"Yes, Bella pick the teams!" Alice said, jumping up and down.

"Calm down pipsqueak," I laughed. "Okay, Rosalie, you stand on my left, Emmett on my right. You two are on opposite teams."

"What the fuck Bella!" Emmett complained. Rosalie merely scowled at me, and the others looked relieved by my decision.

"Alice, you join Emmett and Jasper and Edward you join Rosalie," I said.

"They have more people than us!" Emmett said.

"Yes, but you count as two people by yourself," I reasoned.

"But Alice only counts as a half!"

"Hey!" Alice said, smacking Emmett's arm. "I'm small, but mighty!"

"Sounds like a detergent commercial," Edward laughed.

"I'm sorry Alice, but it's true," Emmett said, earning a glare from Alice.

"Emmett, shall I move Alice on the other team as well?" I said sternly.

"Come on Alice, let's go play," he said, plastering a fake grin on his face, grabbing Alice's hand and skipping over to their side of the net. Half way there, he turned around and gave me the universal I'm-watching-you sign.

"Come on guys," Jasper said, and he, Edward and Rosalie ran to their side.

I quickly stood up and shook off any last crumbs from the towels, carefully placing them back down on the sand, before lying down with my book.

The sun was beginning to set a little bit, when the guys decided that they'd had enough of volleyball, and Emmett decided that no matter how long he and Alice played, they would lose, due to Alice's inability to play properly, instead fussing about how her nails would be ruined.

The net was quickly packed back into the Jeep, and they all came and joined me on the towels.

Alice sat herself between Jasper's legs, leaning back against his chest, and Rosalie lay on Alice's legs, with Emmett rubbing her calves and feet. They all looked so comfortable with each other, and I felt like I belonged with them, as part of their family.

Edward pulled me into his lap, and I sat sideways, resting against his gloriously broad, muscular chest.

We sat quietly, watching the sun set over the glistening blue sea, a perfect day coming to a close.

The beach was slowly becoming even more deserted, with people slowly beginning to leave reluctantly, children throwing tantrums about leaving, parents unwilling carrying them out of the sea.

I watched the children, all small and cute, and my thoughts drifted to the tiny child growing inside of me. I pulled one of Edward's long, soft hands into mine and began to play with his fingers, lost in my daydream, imagining what my child would look like.

If the child was James', then I hoped my baby would have his crystal blue eyes with my brown hair; James' eyes, but without the coldness.

If the baby was Edward's, then I hoped for my little boy or girl to look just like him. He was already Narcissus, gorgeous on the outside, and like Adonis, beautiful both inside and out.

I didn't mind whose the child was; I was still going to get a beautiful child out of it, one that I would love and cherish. Of course, a tiny part of me hoped that the baby was Edward's, but I knew the odds, and had come to believe that James was the father. But no matter; my baby would still be beautiful to me, and would be the perfect child, even if my angel's father was a prick.

"What are you thinking?" Edward asked

"Nothing, just imagining what my baby is going to look like," I said, not meeting his eyes, instead carrying on playing with his hands.

"With you as the mother, I imagine he or she will be breathtaking," he murmured. "But what do you want your baby to look like?"

"If it's James', I want him or her to have his eyes and my hair. If the baby is yours, then I want it to look just like you," I said.

"Whoever's the baby, I just hope he or she is as stunning as their mother," he said, placing a hand on my stomach.

I could feel the blush creeping up my neck, and he chuckled.

"I love your blush," he said, his heart-stopping crooked grin on his face. I looked up at him, mesmerized by him. I brought one of my hands up and traced his features with it lightly, my body seeming to act of its own accord.

When I my fingertips ghosted over his lips, he softly kissed my fingers. My hands moved to his silky hair, and his face inched closer to mine, so close that his hair ticked my cheeks, so close that I could feel his breaths against my own lips. He dipped his head slightly, moving even closer, and our lips were just mere millimetres apart. I willed him to move closer, to press his lips against mine.

"Excuse me?" A woman's voice said, and we broke apart, the trance broken, the moment gone. I looked up at the woman who had spoken, a tall, tanned young woman, staring at me. "Bella? Bella Swan?" she asked, and everyone turned to look at me.

"I'm sorry, do I know- Leah?" I said, standing up, suddenly recognising the dark haired beauty before me. "Leah Clearwater?"

"Yep. It's good to see you Bella," she said genuinely.

"You too. Oh, everyone, this is Leah Clearwater, I knew her from back home in Forks. Leah, these are my friends," I said, introducing her to everyone. She went around and hugged everyone, getting to know everyone by name.

"What are you doing here?" I asked.

"Oh, I'm here on my honeymoon. I'm no longer Leah Clearwater!" she squealed, showing me her ring.

"Congratulations!" I said. "So, Mrs..."

"Black," she said, and my heart stopped. "Leah Black."

I swallowed. "So, who's the lucky guy?" Thankfully my voice sounded normal. After all, Black was a very common name, it could be anybody.

"Jacob Black, from La Push. You remember Jacob don't you? Didn't you used to be really good friends before you moved away?"

"Yeah," I said. "Yeah we did. Is he around?"

"Yeah, he's right there, I'll call him," she said, pointing in the distance where a familiar guy was buying ice creams.

"Oh no, don't worry about it, we wouldn't want to intrude," I said quickly. "We were just leaving anyway!"

But it was too late. He'd already turned around and was looking straight at me, his expression first of confusion, and then of pure hatred.

He strode over to us, long angry steps.

"Bella," he said coolly.

"Hey Jacob," I said nervously. "How are you?"

"I'm good."

"Congratulations," I said. "I hope you'll be very happy together."

"We will," he said shortly.

"Jacob," Leah hissed. "What's wrong with you? I'm sorry Bella, I'm sure he's just a bit jet lagged or something, we only landed last night."

I smiled at her, and then there was an awkward silence.

"So aren't you going to introduce me Bella?" Jacob said. "Who are these, new clients? If you can call them clients."

I ignored his comment, and introduced him to everyone, introducing them as friends.

When I introduced him to Edward, his eyes grew wider.

"Edward Cullen?" he said.

"Yes," I said, confused. "Do you know each other or something?"

"We met once at a conference," Edward said smoothly.

"So where's your _husband _Bella?" Jacob sneered.

"He's not my husband anymore," I said.

"Oh. I'm sorry to hear that. Did the contract run out?" he said.

"Jacob!" Leah said. "What is wrong with you today?"

"Well, now that you ask Leah, I'm just a tiny bit annoyed with my ex-best friend. Did you know that she left for New York to become a prostitute?" Jacob said, and everyone went quiet.

"Jacob-" I said.

"Who'd have known, timid little Bella Swan, a goody-goody two shoes would become a New York whore? She was given the best of everything as a child, yet she just had to disappoint her parents in some way, and becoming a whore was a great way of doing that." He began to applaud, harsh, loud clapping ringing in my ears.

Rosalie stood up.

"Maybe if you listened to her speak you dickhead," she hissed, "You would know why."

"What the hell do you know blondie?" Jacob said.

"Hell of a lot more than you do," she spat. "Come on guys, let's go."

"Is poor little Bella too fragile to listen to the truth? Is that why you're leaving?" he asked.

"Who the fuck do you think you are?" Emmett said incredulously. "You may have been her best friend, but that doesn't give you the right to talk to Bella that way!"

"Some best friend he was," I said. "When I needed you the most Jacob, you fucking left me! You have no idea why I did what I did. She was my mother! I wasn't just going to sit by and watch while she died or was being chased up for money day after day to pay for treatment! Like you said, my parents gave me the best of everything, they did everything for me, and this was the only way to pay them back!"

"Come on Bella," Jasper said, glaring at Jacob. "This stress isn't good for you or the baby," he whispered, so that Jacob wouldn't hear.

Alice had started picking up the towels, and Emmett was packing up the barbecue.

"Enjoy your honeymoon," Jasper said, and pulled me away from Jacob and Leah, walking me back to the car. "I swear, if his wife hadn't been there, I would've punched him."

I could hear Edward talking to Jacob behind me, but I was too tired out to care what they were talking about.

Jasper helped me into the car. "Just ignore him Bella, he doesn't know what he's talking about."

"Bella! Sweetie are you okay?" Alice asked, as she and Rosalie ran up.

"Alice," Jasper said. "Honey, I think she just needs some peace, so keep it down okay?"

"Of course," she said.

"Just ignore the fucker Bella," Rosalie said.

I suddenly felt really angry, as angry as I ever had in my life. I felt consumed by anger; I could feel it filling up every corner of my body, every tiny little crevice.

And then something snapped inside of me. I suddenly got out of the car and walked back to the beach.

"Bella!" the other three called behind me. "Where are you going?"

I ignored them and walked back to where Edward, Emmett and Jacob were standing.

"Where's Leah?" I demanded, walking up in front of him.

"She went back to the hotel," he said. "It's just on the beach front."

"Good," I said, swinging my fist and making contact with his nose. "Who the _fuck _do you think you are? That one was for talking to me like shit!"

I slapped him as hard as I could, my palm stinging. "That's for deserting me when I fucking needed you!" I screeched.

"Bella-" Edward said, trying to pull me away.

"Get off me Edward," I said through gritted teeth, and he immediately let go of me.

I slapped the other side of his face, and brought my knee up to make contact with his groin. He sank down into the sand, groaning loudly and clutching his groin.

"And that one's for not letting me at my mother's funeral," I hissed. "You fucking prick!"

"Why the fuck would I invite you to your mother's funeral when there wasn't one?" Jacob said, curled up on the ground, yet still managing to pour venom every single syllable.

"What the fuck are you talking about?" I said.

"Why would your mother have a funeral," he said, getting up as a malicious smirk crossed his face, "When she's still alive?" He clutched his groin, wincing with every movement.

"That's impossible," I said shakily.

"Oh really?" he said.

"If she's alive, why did the doctor tell me she died? Doctor's don't just lie," I said.

"They do if you pay them enough money," he said. "Did you never wonder why the money kept on being taken out of your account?"

"To pay for the treatments she'd already had," I said.

"She hadn't even had half of the treatments yet," Jacob said. "She just couldn't stand the thought of you doing what you did to pay for her treatment, and she was too ashamed by what you had done. She didn't want anything to do with you, so she just said to tell you that she'd died."

"So let me get this straight," I said. "She pretended to be dead because she didn't want me paying for her treatment, yet she didn't have a problem with continuing to use my fucking money!"

"Pretty much," Jacob said. "It's pretty fucked up. My father, he always believed that the sun shined out of your ass, he left her when he found out."

"What do you mean _left her_?" I said.

"They were dating for a while," Jacob said.

"Anything else I should fucking know?" I screeched. "Seeing as you're just full of surprises today!"

"Yeah, she's now married to some guy named Phil, my father doesn't talk to her anymore because of what she was doing to you, and she's moving to California next month," he said. "My father and I aren't talking anymore either, I agree with Renee, and he doesn't, so I moved out. He always was full of bullshit."

"So you left you _disabled _father to live all by himself?" I said. "Charming Jacob. You really are a class act."

"He's fine on his own. And you're one to talk about being a class act! At least I didn't run off to fulfil my own sexual needs under the pretence of a job while my _single _parent was dying! I'm not really talking to your mother anymore either. After you left, she began to rely on me as her son, which I loved for a while, until she started to dictate who I could and couldn't date, so I stopped talking to her too."

"Come on Edward," I said, turning away from Jacob. "We need to get home as soon as possible."

"Why?" he asked, confused.

"You need to get me home and get me on a plane to Forks," I said. I kicked Jacob one last time for good measure, and turned on my heel, practically running to the car.

"Bella," Edward said. "You can't fly to Forks! Think of the baby!"

"Bella, why don't you just wait until the baby's here?" Alice said.

"No, I'm going now," I said.

All five of them tried to dissuade me from going, but I wouldn't listen to any of them. I was going to Forks today.

"Edward!" Rosalie said. "Tell her!"

"Bella love, listen," Edward said. "This stress isn't good for the baby, calm down. Now, let's all go home, we'll sit down and have something to eat and we can all decide what the best thing to do is. I promise you, you will get to see your mother-"

"She is not my mother!" I spat.

"Okay, I promise, you can go see Renee, but maybe we should sit down and talk about it? After all, you don't want to turn up there with no plan and then look like an idiot, right?"

What he was saying made sense.

"Fine," I said.

"Okay," he said. "Come on guys, everyone drive back to mine."

"I want to go home and wash this sand off first, it's driving me crazy," Alice whined.

"Fine, everyone go home, shower, and get to mine as soon as possible. Bella honey, I've been drinking a little bit, so it might be best if you drive," Edward said, and I swapped seats with him.

I drove cautiously, not wanting my anger to affect my driving and make me crash the car.

There was little traffic, and so we made it home fairly quickly, despite my slow driving. We had hardly spoken the whole journey home; I was too lost in the millions of thoughts circling in my head, and it seemed that Edward was trying to give me space to think.

We both took a shower in our own bathrooms quickly, and I came and sat on the couch as soon as I was done, my wet hair dripping onto my massive T-shirt. Edward was already sat on the couch, and we waited in silence for the others to get there.

I was impatient to get to Forks and to find out what the hell was going on, and everyone else just seemed to want to hinder me in doing so.

Finally, after an eternity, I heard a knock at the door, and the four of them were stood outside, holding Starbucks coffee cups.

I let them in quickly, and Emmett handed round a cup to everyone.

"Edward, Jasper and Rosalie, you all have black coffee, Alice and I have the mochas and Bella we got you a hot chocolate," Emmett said, handing round the drinks.

"Thanks," I said, taking a sip of the creamy drink. I set it down on the coffee table, and picked up my laptop. "I'm going to look at flights."

"Bella, are you sure that you want to go right now to Forks? Maybe if you give it a week or even a few days, it will give you time to think about what you need to say, you can book a hotel, sort out your shop, rather than just turn up in the heat of the moment," Emmett said.

"You should probably check with a doctor that it's okay for you to fly as well, seeing as you're pregnant," Rosalie said.

I brought up the website to the airport, and typed in the details.

"Shit," I said.

"What's wrong?" Edward said.

"The last flight to Seattle today left twenty minutes ago," I groaned. "The next one isn't until midday tomorrow! I guess I haven't got a lot of choice now but to wait."

"Well that settles it then," Emmett said. "You'll just have to wait."

He sounded just a bit too happy.

"Wait, is that why you guys too so long! So I wouldn't get on that plane?" I asked.

Everyone suddenly looked guilty.

"Look Bella," Jasper said. "Give it a few days. How do we know that Jacob's telling the truth about not talking to your Mom? For all we know, he's still talking to her, and he's told her that you're coming. Give it a few days and surprise her."

"That does sound like a good idea," I said hesitantly.

"Wait! Jazzy, you're right!" Alice said. "How do we know that Jacob's telling the truth about Renee? What if she did die when you thought she had, and he's trying to wind you up!"

"We should find out somehow if she's really alive first," Edward said, grabbing the phone. "What was your phone number in Forks?"

I told him the number, and he dialled it. Everyone waited quietly; the silence was tense, as we waited for who would answer.

For a long while, nobody answered. Edward was just about the put it down, when someone answered.

"Hello?"

* * *

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	26. Chapter 26

**Here it is folks, the next chapter!**

**I am finally back after a completely unacceptable amount of time, and I am really, really sorry about the amount of time that has elapsed between updates. This has been a pretty big year for me for all sorts of reasons, and it was not due to laziness that I could not update but due to other circumstances. I am really sorry, and hopefully there will not be a gap as big as this one between updates again. This chapter is shorter than some others due to a suggestion that they were getting too long by a reviewer, please let me know what type of chapter you prefer in this story!**

**Thank you as always to all of my readers, reviewers and people who are adding me to alerts, favourites etc. **

**I would also like to say a big thank you to the reviewer, Rhienna, who left me a long review last time. I have tried to take your comments on board, I guess over the last few chapters I wanted to give Bella a chance to relax and have some fun for a while, but I may have gone a bit overboard with it! I hope that you are still reading, and will leave me a review about what you think of this chapter and the way I have interpreted your comments. Thank you again! Also, thank you to everyone else who reviewed, and my regular reviewers and all of you who continue to read my story!**

**That goes for everyone else reading as well, please leave me reviews and tell me what you think about this chapter or any other chapter, and where you think I could improve my style or suggestions for the next chapter, so I can develop my writing!**

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******Disclaimer: Stephanie Meyer owns the characters, this plot is mine though!**

******Enough talking by me, let's get on with it!**

******Enjoy!**

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**EPOV**

"Do you need anything? Shall I ask someone to get you a drink?" I asked.

Bella glared at me. "How many times are you going to ask me that?" She snapped at me suddenly, however it was not surprising, given the number of times I had already asked her.

"Sorry," I muttered, going back to my book. "We're still a few hours away, why don't you try to get some sleep?"

"I'm too anxious to sleep," she said, resting her head on my shoulder. "I'm meeting my Mom after all this time, during which I didn't even know she was still alive. It's a lot to take in. So tell me again, who answered?"

"Bella," I sighed. "We've been through this a thousand times. A guy answered the phone. I asked if I could speak to Renee, after which he shouted to Renee that there was someone on the phone for her. After that point I hung up."

"It's too much of a coincidence that someone with the same name as her, considering that Renee isn't all that common, would be living at the same address as my old house," Bella said, lifting her head and looking at me. "Right? Tell me I'm not crazy."

"It does sound like it would be her. Like you said, it's too much of a coincidence," I said. "It's hard to believe that the call was only six days ago, and we're on a flight to see if your mother is alive or not. It all seems like it's out of a movie or something."

"I know. Thanks for coming with me," Bella said. "I really appreciate it; I know it must have been hard to get the time off work."

"No problem," I said. "They owed me time off- after all, I do pretty much own the hospital."

"Hmm, not that you take advantage of that fact," she teased, snuggling into my side.

"Like I would do that," I scoffed.

A few hours later, we were touching down at Seattle. Since we didn't have much luggage, having decided to only stay for a week, we were out of the airport pretty quickly and had already procured a rental car from a company opposite the airport.

"I want to drive," Bella said. "I know the way."

"No, if you drive, we'll never get there," I said slowly.

She began pouting at me.

"No."

"Please?" she walked up to me, putting her hands on my chest. "Just this once?"

"How long does it take to get there?" I asked.

"About four hours," she said.

"No, I think you misunderstood me," I smirked. "How long does it take someone who drives at a normal speed?"

The glare was cold enough to freeze the ice caps back into place.

"How about I drive for two hours, then you can drive the rest of the way," I suggested, opening the passenger door for her.

Two hours later, and we'd stopped off at a small roadside cafe to switch.

"It's not going to take us two hours from here jackass," Bella said. "It's just over an hour, since someone drove like he was high."

"Don't worry honey, it'll take _you_ two hours easily," I said. "You nervous?"

"Not a bit," she said surely.

"Then why are your hands shaking? Don't worry, everything will be fine," I said. "I'm sure there's a reason for this."

"It had better be a good one," she said.

The next hour and a half was spent driving through green. Literally everything was covered in grass, leaves, moss or all three, however the sun seemed to be out, which Bella told me was a rare occurrence.

We drove quietly, occasionally pointing something out, like how the trees seemed to be thinning out, or how the building that looked like a prison was the school, or how each of the neat houses, all identical and in straight lines, were the same to the point where not even a shrub was out of place. There was nothing to distinguish one house from the other, except for the cars on the driveways.

All too soon we pulled up outside one of these houses, an old truck parked on the driveway. This house looked slightly untidier, the lawn in dire need of trimming, stones missing from the path, the shutters needing a lick or fifty of paint.

The house was unloved, falling apart, just as the numbers were falling off the front door.

"This is it," Bella said, staring up at the house. "My family home."

"Do you want me to come out with you?" I asked.

"Why the fuck else do you think I wanted you to come?" she snorted, getting out of the car.

In that moment, I felt an incredible rush of pride at the way her stance was strong, her back straight, and a look of determination on her features. There was no sense of nervousness or fear coming from her now; instead she was emitting confidence, her elegance providing proof of that.

I got out of the car and went round to her, pulling her into me.

"I'm so proud you," I said into her hair. "Now you go show that bitch."

She let out a laugh and starting walking up the path, our hands entwined. When we reached the door, she sharply tapped the door knocker a few times, without any hesitation and waited, a look of impatience crossing her features.

Finally we saw someone through the dirty glass of the door making their way over to open it. Whoever it was seemed to wrestle with the door for a few seconds, before it co-operated and opened.

"Yes?"

It was a woman with the same brown locks as Bella, only streaked with grey. The same height, but stooped over slightly. The same rosy cheeks, but more hollow.

The moment she saw Bella, her expression seemed to change, from curiosity to downright hostility. "What are you doing here?"

"Visiting you," Bella said coolly. "Aren't you going to invite me in?"

"The hell I am," Renee said angrily.

"Shame it's my own home then," Bella said, pushing past and pulling me along with her. "I wanted to talk to you, let's go through to the lounge."

She pulled me into a room at the end of the hall. The room was a nice size and clean, with two large windows streaming in light and illuminating everything in the room. The floor was made up of oak floorboards, a rich golden brown covered in a red rug, and comfortable looking brown leather sofas. A large TV was mounted onto the wall where the game was on, and a coffee table sat in the middle of the room, hosting only a plate of chips, some salsa and a beer bottle.

The only thing ruining the image was the slob sitting on one of the couches with another beer bottle in his hand and his face full of chips.

"Phil?" Renee said, following us in. "This is Bella."

He turned to look at us, grunting in response. "So you're the whore?"

Bella gave him a look of utter contempt as I pulled her closer to me. Before I could say anything however, he got himself up from the couch, claiming that he would watch the game upstairs. Where, judging by the smell of the place, a fully fledged brewery had been established.

Bella and I sat down on the other couch and Renee sat down in the spot he had just vacated.

"Explain," Bella commanded.

"There's nothing to explain," Renee sniffed. "My daughter was a whore, I didn't want anything to do with her, and I passed on word that I'd died. Not that you cared enough to come to my funeral."

"I was in New York!" Bella exploded. "How would I have gotten here in time? I was working to pay off your hospital bills, which might I add, I still had to pay despite your sudden 'death'. You were ashamed enough of me to fake your death, but not enough to continue taking my money?"

"How else could I have paid off those bills? I had cancer Bella!" Renee said. "I couldn't work, and I wasn't going to ask Jacob for money!"

"Take out a loan, sell the truck, sell your jewellery, but don't let your daughter work her ass off to support you when you won't even acknowledge her!" Bella's face was getting pretty red, and I was beginning to get worried about her baby.

"My dear, let's not pretend that your ass was the only thing you worked," Renee said with a cruel smirk. "There were other ways of getting money, three of which you just suggested yourself. Why not do those?"

"I wasn't thinking clearly!" Bella said, her grip on my hand getting unbearably tight. "All I saw was my best friend dying! Trust me, if you were in the same situation, you would've at least considered what I did to get the money!"

"Considered yes," Renee said. "But I have more self worth than to do that. And I thought that I'd instilled that in you as well, but clearly not."

"This is fucking unbelievable," Bella said, her voice laced with fury. "So what did you tell everyone here as to why I disappeared?"

"I said that you'd found a job in New York, Phil, Billy and Jacob are the only people who know otherwise."

Bella was looking stressed, and Renee's attitude was pissing me off no end.

"You could be a bit more grateful," I said. "This amazing woman has given up her life for you, so you can fight the cancer and live, the least you could do is show her some respect!"

"Respect?" Renee began to laugh. "To a prostitute? Who are you anyway, her latest client?"

"This is Edward Cullen," Bella said. "A very good friend. My best friend, in fact, remember that position? The one that could've still been yours?"

"Tell me Edward, why would a good looking guy like you, who obviously has money and a decent reputation, choose to buy my skanky daughter?" Renee asked, seeming to be genuinely curious.

"Your daughter is a beautiful, selfless, honest woman and it is a privilege to know her, let alone be considered her friend. I know you think by not associating with her you're much better off, but the day you cut her off will turn out to be the worst day of your life. Because you missed out on the most caring daughter probably in this whole state," I said, the words leaving my mouth of their own accord.

I could feel myself beginning to flush a bit having said all that, and I could sense Bella looking at me. She covered my hand with her other hand as well, however I didn't break eye contact with Renee, glaring at her until _she_ looked away.

"What a heartfelt statement," Renee said finally. "But untrue. She was a crap daughter, and she proved that by going against everything I ever taught her. I'm glad I cut her off when I did, and don't think for a minute, my girl, that you will ever be in my life again. Not as a daughter anyway."

"I'm not going to beg you to, that's not why I came," Bella said, sounding disgusted just at the thought. "I came to see if you were dead, you're not, so I'm leaving."

She stood up suddenly, pulling me with surprising strength. "I'm going upstairs to my room to clear out my stuff."

She let go of my hand and started making her way back down the hall and up the stairs. I followed her up and then into a room I presumed used to be her bedroom, however, which was now definitely not anybody's bedroom, judging by the artist's studio I was standing in.

I watched Bella's face for a few seconds, which seemed to get redder and redder, and her expression more murderous by the second.

"MOTHER!" she screamed. "WHERE THE FUCK IS MY STUFF?"

We went back down to the lounge, where Renee hadn't moved an inch.

"Boxed up in the garage," she said calmly. We turned to go outside and get it all, when I was stopped by Renee's voice again.

"You know Bella," she said, in an almost heartbreaking tone. Or what would have been if I liked her. "You haven't asked me once how I am in the whole time you've been here."

Bella was stood stock still, her back to Renee. "You haven't asked me once about my pregnancy, when I'm due, nothing. I saw you looking at my stomach, it's pretty hard to miss, yet you didn't ask. Did you ask how my life's panned out, the kinds of morons I've had to endure for you? If a mother can't show some concern over her daughter's life, how can she expect her daughter to do the same?"

I watched Renee's face for long enough to see the sad smile on her face, before I too turned away from the pitiful woman.

I loaded all of the boxes into the back seats of the car, glad now that we'd chosen a decent sized car and not gone for a smaller one like I'd suggested.

I squeezed the boxes in, shoving them anywhere they'd fit, even having to empty a few that were full of photo albums and put the albums in loose.

Bella sat down on a table and watched me in silence, making her way over to the car once it became apparent that I was done.

"Shall we go say bye to your mom?" I said.

Bella shook her head. "I don't want to see her."

"Just say goodbye to her," I urged. "One last time."

Bella looked at me for a moment, before walking back inside.

"We're going now," she said loudly.

Renee still hadn't moved from her position, looking out of the window at something.

"Mom?"

Renee turned to look at us; however there was something about her expression that didn't quite look right. It looked like there was something troubling her, something she wanted to say, but she couldn't find the right words.

"Stop with the drama," Bella said, rolling her eyes. "I'm bored of it, and it isn't working anymore. I'm leaving now, you want to say something, say it now."

Suddenly, Renee snapped back into the present. "There's nothing I want to say," she said frostily, but her eyes said something else entirely. "Don't bother coming back here again; I'm leaving in a month for California."

Bella said nothing and walked over to her and bent down to give her a hug anyway, but Renee visibly pulled away, and that was finally it for Bella, as she swept out of the house.

Bella didn't argue when I got into the driver's seat this time, just watched silently as we distanced ourselves from her childhood home.

"I booked us a twin room at a hotel in Port Angeles," I said, trying to make conversation. "I figured that you might not want to stay in Forks, and you said it was a nice town."

"Yeah," Bella said. "Sounds great. Do you mind if we stop off at the cemetery? I'd like to visit my Dad's grave."

"Not at all, is there a florist or something we can stop off at? We should take some flowers then."

Bella seemed surprised at my suggestion, saying that she hadn't even thought of that. She directed me to a small florist's, tucked away in the middle of a suburban street.

"Could you do me a favour and get them?" Bella said. "This place is owned by the mother of somebody I used to know, I don't want it to spread that I'm back in town until we've left."

"Sure, what type do you want?" I asked, starting to get out of the car.

I walked into the florists with orders to get anything big, colourful but inexpensive; apparently Charlie would have classed this as an unnecessary expense and hated the idea of those when he was alive. I decided to concentrate more on the first two, and if necessary, just not divulge the price to Bella. After all, Charlie never told me about unnecessary expenses, and since I was spending the money, there was no issue.

The florist's was small, but filled with huge metal buckets of flowers of every size and colour imaginable. Towards the back was a door, probably leading to the "workshop" or whatever florists called the room where they put together bouquets.

"Can I help?" a woman said, coming out of the door.

"Yeah, I need something made up now please," I said. "It needs to be big, colourful and suitable for a cemetery."

The woman seemed amused by my instructions, her lips twitching to smile, however she managed to keep a fairly straight face.

"I see," she said. "Did you have any flowers or colours in mind?"

"Nope, it just needs to be colourful," I said. "How long will it take?"

She told me it would take about half an hour, so I went back out to the car to sit with Bella.

"So how close were you and Charlie?" I asked.

"We used to be inseparable," she said, smiling. "We literally did everything together, and when he was at work, me and Renee used to go out after school shopping or for ice creams until he finished work at seven. My life was pretty much perfect back then. Once he died, it was just me and her and the house seemed a lot emptier without him. That first year was awful, whenever a birthday or the holidays came around it didn't seem right, making new traditions that he wasn't a part of."

"How did he go?" I asked, curious. It had occurred to me a few days ago that when I had driven her to the hospital when she had broken her foot, she said that he had died in a car accident. However in her diary, she said he was shot in the leg. Nobody dies twice, and I was wondering how the two very different stories came about.

"He had a heart attack," she said. "I guess the stress of his job was too much for him."

"Are you sure?" I said, confused. "You told me he was killed by a drunk driver, you know, that day you broke your foot?"

"I think it was the day _you _broke myfoot actually. Why would I say that? It isn't true!" she said, laughing. "We must've been talking about somebody else."

"What? No, it was definitely about him, think Bella! I was slightly drunk, we got pulled over and I was about to be breathalysed? It was definitely about Charlie, because I felt like shit after, I felt really guilty because I had no idea that's how he died," I poured out, hoping that she would explain what was going on, or at least remember her last story.

"That's nonsense Edward," Bella said, still looking amused. "You must be confused. The flowers are probably ready by now."

I went into the florists for a second time, my mind working overtime. I decided that later on, I would just have to come clean as to how I read her diary. Once she saw that entry, she wouldn't be able to deny the fact that there was more than one story circulating about the death of her father, however I wasn't looking forward to owning up to reading something so personal and private.

"Hello?" I called, and the woman came out of the back.

"Hi there," she said warmly. "I'll just be five minutes, a few last touches."

When she came out with the flowers, I was impressed.

A massive arrangement of daisies, tulips, cornflowers surrounded the golden rays of sunflowers, tall blades of grass bringing yet another colour to the fabulous arrangement.

"Wow," I said. "You really did go to town on the colours!"

I was worrying slightly about how we would get it in the car which was already full of boxes, but I paid up and carried the gigantic arrangement out to the car.

I opened up the passenger door and handed them to Bella to hold in her lap, the tall flowers tickling her face.

"This is beautiful," she said. "It must have cost loads though!"

"Not really," I said. "Can you direct me?"

"Yeah, just do me a favour and take a picture of the flowers," she said. "They're gorgeous!"

After we had taken the photos, we followed the quiet roads to the cemetery, right on the other side of town. I pulled over by the gates and looked into the tranquil area, surrounded, as was everything in this town, by a dense wall of tall trees. The graves were lined up, and looked very similar, black headstones with gold lettering, some decorated with flowers and others with statues or plastic windmills, all resting on a bed of tidy, vivid grass.

"Do you want to go in alone for a while first?" I asked.

"No," she said, her eyes searching among the graves. "No, you come with me."

We wove our way through the rows of graves, until we came to one particular grave. This one had no flowers, and the stone vase at the base of the headstone was completely empty except for the rainwater that had collected. It was obvious that no one had visited it for a while.

"Hi Dad," Bella said softly, lowering herself onto the ground next to his headstone. "It's been a while since I came to visit you, I know, but I've been away, in New York. Remember what you used to say to me, when I used to ask you if we could go to the city? You would tell me that I wouldn't like the city, it was too big, too noisy for me, but guess what? It was one of the few things you were wrong on. I love the city, everything about it!"

I watched Bella as she talked, telling Charlie about her life, what had happened since she'd last been here. Minus the slightly more PG bits, understandably: I doubt that's high up in any girl's priorities to tell her father.

I sat down on the other side of the headstone, arranging the flowers in the vase, thankful for the water in the vase, since we'd forgotten to get some.

Bella talked about high school, her prom, her high school graduation and how she'd opened the bakery. Her face was beautiful as she talked, happy and glowing and her tone had a wistful, reminiscent touch. It was both soothing and heartbreaking at the same time.

"And this," she said, reaching over to grab my hand. "Is Edward. He's helped me out so much over the past few months, you would not believe! He's amazing, a really great guy, the kind of guy you would have loved to have known."

We sat for a while longer, and I felt bad for dragging Bella away, but it was starting to get dark.

"We can come back," I promised. "Every day if you want, but we need to start getting back to the hotel."

"Okay," she said, getting up and brushing herself off.

She fell asleep pretty quickly, almost as soon as I started driving, so I got the GPS system up on my phone and drove us to the hotel in Port Angeles, but she still wasn't awake when we got there.

I gently shook her awake and led her into the hotel lobby, where it took longer than expected to check in, before we finally crashed in our room, but regrettably in separate beds.

I however, woke up after just two hours, unable to go back to sleep. I lay and thought about the woman snoring, just three feet away from me, and how much I wanted her. Since we had started living together, my attraction towards her had grown stronger and I didn't want to stay away from her, even for a second.

Before I knew it, I was thinking of her baby and hoping that it was mine, like she had said all those months ago.

I berated myself almost instantly; I couldn't afford to think like that, not even for a moment. I knew exactly what would happen if I did: the baby would be born, it would be James', and I would be crushed.

But there was still that tiny voice telling me to keep faith.

And anyway, even if the baby was his, it was still a part of Bella, so I would still love it.

I frowned in the darkness, unable to keep up with my thoughts which were drifting into dangerous territory.

However, I did have strong feelings for her, and I was desperate to act on them, especially having seen her vulnerable side today. But first I needed her to see that she had feelings for me, which I was certain she did. I could tell from the way she looked at me, and I hope this was intuitiveness and not male pride coming through.

I needed to formulate a plan, to show her.

And phase one of my plotting hit me just then.

It was subtle, but would confuse her slightly. I got up and lifted her out of her own bed and into mine, before laying down beside her, moulding my body to hers. She let out a content sigh, before snuggling into me, and I grinned, finally drifting off to sleep.

The next morning, Bella was indeed confused as predicted, however I played dumb as we shopped around the town, making the most of our week's holiday from work.

"Did you want to go back to Charlie this afternoon?" I asked her, and she shook her head, saying she wanted to go tomorrow instead.

The day was great, until we got back to the hotel, because that night, in that room, Bella came onto me, emerging from the bathroom in just her underwear. I, sat on the bed, was taken by surprise and didn't find my voice until I was actually being straddled and Bella's fingers were in my hair, her plump lips excruciatingly close to my own.

And it felt fucking amazing, but I had to do what was right. It wasn't easy, in fact it was very hard- both the decision and myself- however I pulled her slightly away from me.

"Bella," I sighed. "You don't really want this, you just need to feel loved and this is the easiest way."

"No," she said, indignantly, before growling "I just really _need_ you."

"Bella," I said. "You're really vulnerable right now, I am _not _taking advantage of you like this. You're not thinking properly."

"But I really want you to fuck me!" she whined.

She glared at me when I didn't respond, before stalking back into the bathroom and slamming the door behind her.

"Oh come on Bella," I called. "Believe me, it's not that I don't want to! It's just the pregnancy hormones mixed with vulnerability talking!"

I couldn't believe that I had turned down sex with Bella; it was almost frightening, I had no idea when or how I'd turned into such a boring guy.

And now I couldn't even take a cold shower because she was in the only bathroom.

On the plus point, it seemed that she was just as into me, as I was into her, and now the ball was totally in my court in the next part of my plan of seduction.

When she finally came back out, huffing, she simply lay down in her own bed, pulled the covers over her head and went to sleep, at which point I saw my opportunity for that shower. When I had finished, she was thankfully asleep and once again, I moved her into my own bed and drifted off into a dream filled with a certain beauty.

However the next day, whilst at the cemetery, everything changed.

We were sat by Charlie's grave again, however my phone rang.

"Hello?" I said, moving away from Bella so as not to disrupt her.

"Edward? It's me, Lauren, you need to get back here, I've gone into labour!"

"Oh my god," I said, almost dropping my phone. "But it's too soon, you're not due for another three months!"

"I know, you need to get here, I've been having contractions for a few hours now!"

I quickly explained to Bella what was happening, and she said a hurried goodbye to Charlie, with promises to come back soon.

I sped us back to Port Angeles in what Bella assured me was a record time.

"Thank god we spent yesterday afternoon packing everything from Renee's place," Bella said, in an obvious attempt to make conversation, but I was too wound up to respond, a thousand thoughts running through my head.

There was so much to do before we could get on the flight Bella had secured us tickets on, leaving in just two hours. We had to get our things from the hotel, pay the rest of the bill, return the car and still have enough time to check in, but somehow we just about managed it.

"I'm sorry for cutting the trip short," I said.

"Don't be stupid Edward," Bella laughed. "It's your baby, of course we had to leave. Nervous?"

"Just a tad," I joked.

I was glad that after last night, there had been no awkwardness between us; Bella had been absolutely fine with me, even cracking a joke about her brazenness.

"Isn't it ironic that on the way here, I was the nervous wreck and now you are?" Bella grinned at me, watching as I spilled my drink down my shirt.

"I'm having a baby, I'm allowed to be nervous," I said.

"Well don't be," Bella said, grabbing my hand for the thousandth time on this trip. Not that I minded, I loved that she felt she could. "You'll be a great father."

"I hope we get there on time," I said, anxiously checking my watch.

However it turned out that I had nothing to worry about, for the moment I got off the plane and checked my phone, I found a text message from around the time of take off. From Lauren.

Turns out that the hospital said she was having Braxton-Hicks today. Not a baby.

When I showed Bella, she burst into laughter, lovingly reminding me how jittery I had been on the plane, and the state of my shirt, now covered in numerous stains from drinks and various food types.

She was still taking the piss as the cab dropped us off and even yelling at me from her bed.

"Shut up, go to sleep," I called.

"I'm not tired!" she giggled back, so I decided to go into her room.

I lay down next to her.

"So we never did get to the bottom of the story with your dad," I started.

"What, you mean how he died? Edward we talked about this," she sighed.

"I have a confession," I began. "Whilst I was cleaning in here, I found your diary. And I may have slightly read it."

"Oh," she said. She looked shocked for a moment. "Well, it saves me the embarrassment of having to say it out loud."

"You're not annoyed?" I said, genuinely surprised.

She shook her head. "If I leave things lying around, people are bound to find them. Although, you're not just people to me."

My heart skipped a beat at that, but I decided to play it cool.

"Well, I'm sorry, it was none of my business, I should have waited until you told me yourself," I said. "Where is it?"

"Seriously, it's no problem. It's in my purse, why?"

I got up and fished it out of her purse, flicking it open to the right place.

"Look at this, right here," I said, showing her the section about Charlie's death. As she read it, her smile faded and she began to look panicked.

"Oh my god, what is happening to me?" she said, turning to me with a crazed look in her eyes. "I don't even know how my dad died?"

"It's probably shock or something from the emotional upheaval of the past few months," I said, my inner psychologist revealing itself. "But I want to take you to see my dad tomorrow, he's the best in this field, he might be able to explain this to you. What do you think?"

"Sounds good," she said, her eyes filling with tears. "What kind of daughter am I?"

I pulled her into me, stroking her hair.

"We'll get this sorted first thing in the morning," I promised.

The next morning, we drove out to my parents place, and I was surprised to find that my father and Bella were already acquainted.

"Carlisle!" Bella exclaimed.

"Hello Bella," Carlisle said, looking confusedly between the two of us. "How do you know each other?"

"We're friends," I said, and Carlisle raised an eyebrow at me, smirking. "It's true! Where's Mom?"

"She's had to go out," he said, ushering us through the door.

I led Bella into Carlisle's study, and he followed. "Why aren't we sitting in the lounge?"

"We've come about something important," I said.

Bella explained to Carlisle about her confusion, and I helpfully filled in the details, supplying Bella's many theories as to how Charlie had died.

After we had told him everything, Carlisle leant back in his chair, looking thoughtful. "It sounds like false memories have been planted in your mind, which could be the result of someone suggesting certain scenarios to you. For example, someone may have thought that Charlie died in a car accident mistakenly, and the idea just took hold in your mind, the human mind is very fallible. Another possibility is that you may be confusing his death with someone else's that you used to know, or a death scenario that you dreamt about and associated with him. There are various possibilities, but I think that the most obvious one is something else entirely."

Bella laughed nervously. "I don't understand, this is the death of my father, not a high school memory that my mind has just changed it."

"You'd be surprised," Carlisle chuckled, "at how our minds screw us over. The false memories I was talking about? They could be the result of someone asking how you were, how you were coping with the death and that the crash must have come as a shock. You corrected her at the time that Charlie didn't die in a crash, but the memory remained and your mind pulled it out later, confusing it for one of your own memories."

"That is stupid on so many levels," Bella muttered. "So what do you think it is?"

"Well," Carlisle said hesitantly. "You've been through a lot in a short space of time, and you've been challenged emotionally, certainly a lot more than anyone else your age probably has been. I think that Depression sounds like a plausible explanation."

"You think I'm depressed? Great," Bella said, looking over at me.

I shrugged. "That's what I was thinking."

"Sure it is," she said.

"It is, I just didn't want to say without being sure," I said, defending myself.

"In this case, I am pretty sure. But most of America suffers from it," Carlisle joked. "It's not a big deal, with the right support you won't even feel the effects of it in a few months time, at the most. Can I just ask, are you pregnant?"

"Well she's obviously not just put on weight specifically on her stomach," I snorted.

"Just checking," Carlisle said. "Congratulations Bella!"

"Thank you," Bella said.

"How's Lauren doing Edward?" he asked, as Bella gave me a sly look.

"Yeah Edward, how is she doing? She isn't _panicking _is she, it's a big step," Bella smirked.

"She's very well," I said, ignoring her. "Braxton-Hicks have started."

After a while of baby talk, Carlisle declared that therapy was the best way forward for Bella. "As you can probably guess, I am a bit reluctant to recommend any drugs due to the pregnancy, so it seems that therapy is the only way forward."

We stayed and discussed the therapy for a while longer, but as soon as I saw Bella let out her first yawn I made an executive decision to leave.

As we were driving home, Bella asked when I had told my parents about Lauren.

"Just after I found out," I said. "Those few weeks we weren't talking. They were obviously a bit shocked, but I think secretly they were excited. How do you know Carlisle anyway?"

"He was my therapist, he was the one who told me to keep that diary," she explained.

We drove in silence for a while, when a completely unexpected topic came up.

"You know," Bella started. "I am still convinced that this baby is yours."

"Why do you say that?" I asked, pulling into the parking lot for our building.

"I just have a feeling. Which is why I want to make this interesting. If this baby is indeed yours, which we will find out at birth obviously, then you have to do something for me," she said, grinning.

"Oh, and I suppose you had something in mind," I said, an eyebrow raised at her.

"If I am right, you have to have sex with me." She looked pretty damn pleased at that one while I stared at her attractively, my mouth gawping like a fish. I must've looked so sexy.

"And if you're wrong?" I asked, finally breaking out of the trance. "What happens then?"

"Come on Edward, we are adults. I am very attracted to you, I can tell you feel the same about me, let's cut to the chase," she said dangerously.

Internally, I was doing fist pumps: she openly admitted she was attracted to! Although I had no idea that I'd been so obvious about my attraction to her.

"We are feeling cocky today aren't we?" I said.

I stared at her for a few minutes, her eyes shining, her mouth curved into a wide smile.

"Admit it, you just want more of this," I said, motioning at my body. "You just can't keep away."

We stared at each other intensely for a while, the pros and cons of this reckless deal flitting through my head. The next five months were certainly going to be interesting I thought, as I replied, the ball rolling out of my court and into hers as I replied, losing control over my plan to win her over.

"Deal."

* * *

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	27. Chapter 27

**Here it is folks, the next chapter!**

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* * *

**BPOV**

Half way there already.

Twenty weeks of my pregnancy had passed, and I had a huge bump to show for it. I stared at my massive ass broodingly in the mirror, as I examined myself from every possible angle. My fingers were fat, my hips seemed bigger than ever and the only benefit of the weight gain was completely pointless.

My ever growing breasts were of little use to me right now, seeing as I had no one to appreciate them. I longed for sex, and not in an animal way. I wanted to feel close to somebody, to feel their hot skin against mine as we became one. The comfort of being with someone, of being protected from the world as they loved me.

It had been a long time since someone had made love to me like that. And that someone being Edward.

Although a quick fuck didn't sound too bad either.

I let out a sigh and lay back on my bed, horny as hell. Since that day in Port Angeles almost five weeks ago when I had shamelessly come onto Edward, I'd controlled myself from jumping him. Just.

But everyday, my desire for him grew stronger. Everyday he seemed sexier than he had the day before and it was getting harder to control myself. Dreams punctuated my nightmares, and in the dreams he would claim my body in very imaginative and hot ways.

Hopefully my baby would be his, and then he would have to have sex with me.

"I'm back," he called, and I heard the front door close. "Bella?"

"In here," I called, almost moaning at the sound of my name from his lips. My horniness was almost pathetic. "How was work?"

"I've had worse days," he said, coming in and sitting beside me. "How are you?"

"Fine," I said. "The sickness wore off around mid-afternoon."

I'd had to take another day off of work because of morning sickness. Unfortunately the girls at work were now used to working without me, what with the number of days I had missed.

We sat in companionable silence for a while, him probably thinking over his day and me thinking over how good he smelt.

"Did you want me to go with you to the scan on Friday?" he asked.

It was time for my twenty week scan, and the chance to find out the sex of my baby. Hopefully Edward's baby.

"It's okay, I don't want you to have to miss more work because of me," I said.

"Bella my work consists of doing a bit of paperwork and avoiding the nurses and secretaries," he chuckled.

"Well when you put it like that, I'd love for you to come with me," I said, a pang of jealousy hitting me.

"Thank you," he grinned.

"What are you thanking me for?"

"For letting me share this amazing time," he said.

"No problem, after all this is your baby too."

He chuckled, getting up and going into the bathroom. "You wish Swan."

He had no idea just how much.

"Edward!" I called. "It's time to go!"

The rest of the week had dragged, and I had spent the week feeling excited about the scan.

I had been a little unsure about the baby: it had been conceived during such a terrible phase of my life that I had worried I'd never feel close to it, that I would hate it and would associate it with James. I prayed that the baby wasn't his, but at the same time I didn't want to burden Edward with another child outside of marriage.

But nonetheless I found myself excited to meet my child. I was determined that my baby would be brought up surrounded by love and would never resemble James in any way.

"Come on then lovely, let's go," Edward said, appearing out of nowhere.

"Jeez Edward, I thought girls were meant to take longer getting ready," I said, rolling my eyes.

"Okay smartass." His voice had that lovely deep hum of amusement which I found enchanting.

During the drive to the hospital I wasn't sure if I wanted to know the sex of the baby anymore. This piece of information would change my life completely, and so much had changed already that I was getting a little sick of it. But hopefully this would be the last big change for a little while.

I was still unsure as the nurse rubbed gel on my belly, Edward clasping my hand.

"Here we are," the nurse said.

The tiniest little baby appeared on the screen, all curled up with its beautiful arms and legs carefully tucked away within me.

"And right there," the nurse said slowly as she positioned the wand. "Is your baby boy."

"I'm having a boy?" I smiled, my voice breaking as my eyes prickled. "He's perfect!"

Edward kissed my cheek. "He's amazing, just like you."

I chuckled tearfully. "Let's hope his balance is better than mine."

"Honey, I can't imagine anybody with worse balance," Edward deadpanned.

The next few weeks found me in a stunned stupor, amazed at the fact that a lovely little boy who would one day play sports, date lots of girls, get married was nestling inside of me right now.

The knowledge that I was bringing a boy into the world even managed to get rid of the last niggling bouts of morning sickness and motivated me to go shopping for my prince.

One evening I was sat watching TV with Edward massaging my feet, a name book propped up on my stomach.

"Hey Edward, do you have any name ideas?" I asked.

"I need to come up with one of my own still," he snorted.

"I love the name Adam," I said. "Or Oliver. I want his middle name to be Charles, after my dad, but first I need a first name."

"At least you have a middle name, I haven't got anything," Edward said glumly.

"You know what we need?" I asked. "Cookies! I really want some cookies!"

"Do you want me to go to the store?" Edward asked.

I said no; I wanted to make Grandma Swan's famous chocolate chip cookies myself.

I quickly made up the cookie dough and was spooning it onto a baking sheet when my phone began to ring.

"Hello?"

"Bella, it's me, Mom. Look, I'm sorry about how your trip went. I wasn't feeling myself that day and we both said things we didn't mean. I want to-"

I cut her off, anger replacing the shock.

"What's wrong Mom? You need me for something now, is that what this is? You want a favour from your dumb daughter? Every _fucking _time you ever spoke to me, you started with what _you_ wanted. Did you ever think about me?" I snapped down the phone at her. Edward came rushing in. "It's Renee," I spat out. "She fucking wants something."

"Look I'll talk to her," he said, reaching out for the phone. "The stress isn't good for you or the baby."

I shook my head, tears of anger and frustration threatening to spill over. Renee was saying something but I wasn't paying attention to her.

"No, because I have nothing to say. I don't want to talk to you Mom and I don't care what you want from me this time. I've given up enough for you over the last few years."

"Isabella I am your mother," a faint note of irritation had crept into her voice. "I just want to talk to you, you owe me that much."

"_I _OWE _YOU?" _Edward made another swipe for the phone but I moved out of his reach. "I don't owe you _anything_. Got me? So don't bother ringing me again, because I won't even pick up. Speaking of which where did you get my number?"

I was met with silence.

"You know what, I don't even care. You're the one who fucking owes me! Thousands of dollars and my whole fucking life!"

In hindsight, I admit it. I was a bit dramatic.

Thankfully Edward seemed to recognise that I wasn't ready to talk to anyone just yet, so he put the cookies in the oven for me and led me back to the TV.

At some point I fell asleep and Renee visited me in my dreams, begging me to talk her. She said that this was important, but when I woke back up I refused to let myself feel sorry for her. I would not give in to her this time.

Edward didn't mention it for a few days, giving me space, but then he asked me why she had phoned on the way to the grocery store.

"Said she wanted to talk," I huffed. "Maybe she needs money for a boob job or something so needs me to do a striptease."

"Bella, maybe you should ring her," he suggested tentatively. "Just find out why she rang. You'll regret it for the rest of your life if it was serious and you didn't ask."

"I don't believe this," I laughed. "You're taking _her _side?"

"I'm not taking sides, I just think it's the right thing to do," he answered.

That didn't even warrant a reply.

"Fine, I'm sorry, I shouldn't have gotten involved," he said, but still I ignored him.

Instead I wanted to bring up something which I had been thinking about for some time now.

"Edward, I've been staying with you for quite a while now, and I feel like I'm taking over your life. You can't have guests over, or entertain or go out as much because you feel obligated to me."

He cut in straight away. "That's bullshit Bella and you know it. Which guests would I have over, the postman? Besides, I could still have them over if you're there. I like having you around, I thought you knew that." He sounded hurt.

"I just think that it is time for me to stop sponging off of you and stand up on my own two feet for once." I could see him shaking his head. "I want to sell the bakery, since it was a project James started up, and get my own place ready for me and the baby to live in. You have your own baby on the way as well, you need the space."

"No," he said, sounding pissed. "Obviously you're staying with me, and once the babies come there is plenty of space for us all. You can't just sell up your business and expect that to pay for rent, food, the baby, what's going to be your main source of income? You can't afford to do that right now!" he glared at me, his smouldering green eyes burning with anger. "Just before your baby is born you want to start over; have you _completely _lost the plot?"

"Honestly, can you stop talking to me like I am three years old!" I snapped. "I'm fed up of everyone telling me what to do, having to follow everyone else's instructions because stupid Bella is too silly and immature to make her own decisions!"

"I think," he said coldly, "That you have proved that you can't make your own decisions, judging by your situation and position right now."

The sting of his words cut through me like a knife.

"Fuck," he muttered. "I'm really sorry, that came out wrong, let me explain."

"I don't think you need to," I said, my voice unnaturally high. "Stop the car Edward."

"Bella no, listen-"

"STOP THE FUCKING CAR!" I screamed, and he pulled over, a muffled curse leaving his lips.

The lips that had whispered soothing words to me, cracked jokes to cheer me up, kissed me. Those same lips were now showing me what Edward really thought of me.

"I am sorry," I said in an even tone. "For all of the hassle I have caused you and the time that I have wasted. I'll send you a cheque in the mail covering all of the money you have spent on me plus board."

"Bella," he pleaded. "Don't do this, just hear me out."

"I'd rather not; to be honest I don't think I could handle hearing what else you think of me. Good luck with the baby, and I hope you have an excellent life, I really do."

I made to get out of the car, wanting to leave before I started to cry, but he grabbed hold of my wrist.

Suddenly I was back in my old house, James's house and he was tugging my wrist, pulling me up to eye level. He was holding my wrists above my head as he pounded in and out of me, holding on tight enough to make me lose sensation in my wrists and leave purple marks the next day.

I hadn't known that I had started screaming until Edward had let go of my wrist.

"Bella! Bella!" he yelled, trying to get me to snap out of it, but he couldn't. I continued howling and crying, punching Edward.

"Don't fucking touch me! You bastard, leave me alone!" People walking past were looking into the car at me, and Edward looked at me like I'd grown a third arm.

I sobbed uncontrollably as I saw not Edward, but James sitting in the driver's seat.

"Bella, you need to talk to me, what's going on?" Edward said urgently.

"Oh God, you even sound like him!" I sobbed.

"Who?" Edward demanded, his voice with a sharp tone to it; James's voice.

I shook my head, glad that the screaming had stopped. Now I could leave.

I opened the door and got out of the car, walking quickly to the nearby subway station.

Edward was calling after me but I didn't care, I just needed to get away and stop ruining his life.

Just when I had thought that my life was starting to get back on track, it totally derailed again.

I ducked into the female toilets for a bit, thinking of my next move. My cell phone was going crazy in my purse, so I switched it off to avoid the missed calls and texts that would be coming my way.

Feeling a little bit better now that I was on my own for the first time in years, I bought a ticket and sat down on the first train I saw. I then remained on this train, riding it back and forth across the city for the rest of the day, satisfied that nobody would ever find me here.

Although this plan was brilliant, it wouldn't last forever. I still needed somewhere to sleep for a while until I could sell the bakery.

I spent the night with only this thought to keep me company.

I told myself that I needed to be alone, and time to think. In reality, I was content just sitting on this train riding across the city, _just_ out of everybody's reach.

Only just.

As the sun began casting its glow over the city again, I switched on my phone, having decided that I should probably come up with a plan.

My phone took a while to load up, and I was surprised to find that I had several messages in my inbox as well as missed calls. I had thought that on the subway you couldn't even receive messages, but turns out I was wrong. They must have come through when I was passing in and out of Wi-Fi zones.

Scrolling through them, I saw that most were from Edward soon after I had left. After a couple of hours I had started receiving messages from Emmett and Jasper, and Alice and Rosalie not long after.

What surprised me however was that I had had no text messages or calls from Edward since around midnight, and it was now six-thirty. Edward wouldn't have gone that long without trying to reach me, however there were loads more from everyone else.

I had an awful feeling that something was going on, and swallowed my pride to read some of the latest messages.

_**Bella, I don't know where you are, but PLEASE phone me ASAP- Alice**_

_**Bella, this is not funny, you need to trust me on this one and get in touch. It's serious, phone one of us soon- Rose**_

_**Bella, Edward needs you- Jasper**_

_**Stop being a selfish bitch and get your ass in gear! Edward was there when you needed him, now it's your turn to do the same for him. This is really serious, call me NOW- Alice**_

_**Bella, at least hear us out, we're not giving up until you phone- Emmett**_

I frowned at my phone and all but ran out of the carriage at the next stop. I made my way out of the station and into the street above, full of bleary-eyed office workers clutching at their phones and briefcases.

This seemed serious, and if Edward needed me then I owed it to him to be there for him.

"Alice? What's happened, what do you mean Edward needs me?" I yelled down the phone as soon as she picked up.

"You need to get to the hospital," Alice said flatly, sounding exhausted. "I'm not telling you over the phone."

My blood ran cold. "The hospital?"

"Stop wasting time and get your fucking ass over here!" she yelled at me.

And I did just that.

The journey to the hospital seemed to last far more than half an hour, and in that time I kept running over scenarios in my head over what could have happened to land Edward in hospital, ranging from paper cuts to knifings.

I ran as fast as my pregnant ass would let me (although those who saw me may have called it closer to waddling) up the hospital stairs into the main reception. Luckily Emmett was already in there waiting for me.

"Bells," he said, pulling me in for a hug.

"What's going on?" I asked.

"Let's go up to the others, and we'll all explain." He had grabbed hold of my hand and begun to drag me towards the elevators.

"No!" I said, pulling my hand out of his. "Tell me Emmett."

"Bella-"

"_NOW," _I growled.

He exhaled loudly and moved me towards some plastic seats next to the elevators.

"Fine, but only because I think that goddamn pixie will tell you an exaggerated, dramatic version," he said. "Yesterday evening, Edward called all of us and said that you had gone and that he was trying to reach you but you wouldn't answer. So we all tried ringing you, Jasper and Alice went to the bakery, Rosie and I tried your old house, nothing. Edward had been trying to get the cops involved but they wouldn't, something about needing a whole day before they can issue missing persons reports. We were all wracking our brains, trying to think where you could be, and all met up at my place at around eleven to see if we could come up with anything. Edward was beside himself worried about you. It was killing him having to sit there and _talk_ rather than be out there looking for you himself."

I listened to the story, my stomach clenching painfully.

"We told him to just sit down and listen for a minute, just so we would have a better search method, and he went fucking crazy at us. Said we weren't bothered about finding you, that you could be anywhere with anyone and we wouldn't have known, that kind of shit. Being Edward, he stormed out and Alice went after him trying to reason with him. The rest of us watched from my balcony as she chased him down the street to his car, both of them yelling at each other. They were yelling so loudly they probably couldn't hear anything else. A group of teenagers were coming the other way and started saying something to Alice by the looks of it, we couldn't hear from that far away. One of them grabbed hold of Alice and Edward punched him. Suddenly the others had all encircled him and were beating him up."

"Shit," I whispered, tears pooling in my eyes.

"He never even stood a chance, there were too many of them. Alice was screaming, trying to pull them away. Me and Jasper ran down to him, and Rosie rang the cops. When we reached them, we sent Alice back up to mine. We were about to get those motherfuckers when they decided that they'd had enough and ran away, laughing." Emmett sounded disgusted. "Fuck, if we'd gotten there just a minute sooner I would have ripped them apart."

"Oh my god," I said, surprised that I could still talk. "How bad is he?"

"By some miracle he hasn't broken anything," Emmett said grimly. "Although there is a hell of a lot of swelling and bruising. He was concussed from when his head hit the ground, and the doctors were worried about internal bleeding, but apparently it is on a small enough scale to stop itself within the next few hours. If it doesn't, he will need surgery, but it's looking good. His ribs in particular took a good bashing and are quite bruised, and the bastards dislocated his left shoulder."

"Can I see him?" I said as I wiped my eyes. Then a horrible thought struck me. "Oh shit, he might not want to see me, this is all my fault!"

The tears began to flow again.

"Of course he wants to see you, you moron," Emmett said. "It's all he's been talking about since he got here, telling us to get out there and look for you."

I let out a relieved laugh.

"I was such a bitch to him earlier, and I ignored everyone's calls-"

"Hey, it's okay, you're allowed to be a bitch every now and then, it's not your fault. No one blames you," he lightly punched my shoulder.

"You were supposed to say that I'm not a bitch."

Emmett let out a booming laugh. "Come on then, let's go see him."

He led me into an elevator. When we reached the family room I was met with the ashen faces of Jasper, Alice and Rosalie. Everyone pulled me in for a hug all at once.

"Let her see Edward first," Emmett said, firmly pulling me out of the crush. "I've told her everything already. He's in there Bella."

He pointed at the room, and I braced myself before entering. Nothing could have prepared me for having to see Edward in such a state, hooked up to drips, bandaged and in a hospital bed.

His face was bruised beyond recognition with eyes puffy and black, a split lip, and a rather shiny red nose that Rudolph would have been proud of. His head was bandaged, and one shoulder was in a sling. A single lock of hair curled out from under the bandage, and it was matted with blood. I couldn't see much else of him due to his blanket, but I didn't think I'd be able to handle much else. He was linked up to an IV and a monitor, with various tubes disappearing under the blanket.

He was propped up against a pillow and glaring sullenly out of the window; he hadn't seen me come in.

"I leave you alone for a few hours, and this is what happens," I joked, despite the tears in my eyes.

His head whipped round, and as his puffy emerald eyes met mine I felt slightly better; he looked clear and focused. His eyes crinkled in the corners as a painful-looking smile filled his face.

"Oh god, don't smile," I said. "I don't think you could take the pain."

"Funny," he said. "Are you going to stand there all day?"

I sat down on the chair next to his bed and grabbed hold of one beautiful hand. I threaded my fingers through his and placed a kiss on his palm.

"I'm so sorry," I began.

"Bella, this isn't your fault," he said firmly. "Is it okay if we talk about this properly at home though? My head is pounding like crazy, and I want to be totally alert before we have this conversation of you blaming yourself and me trying to tell you otherwise."I glared at him playfully. "Don't even pretend that you weren't gonna blame yourself."

We sat in a comfortable silence, the steady beeping of the monitors the only sound filling the room.

"I think this is proof that we should never be apart," Edward said suddenly, smiling slightly.

"How did you figure that out?" I teased curiously.

"Well last time we were separated, James managed to put you in hospital," something unreadable flashed across his eyes as he said this, "And this time we were separated those kids managed to land me in hospital. Whenever we are apart, someone ends up in hospital injured. So therefore, if we are always together, no one will end up here."

"Well I can't fault your logic," I said, smiling.

"Good, because this is the universe's way of telling us to stick together."

"That was cheesy."

"But true," he shot back. "You should go home; I don't know how long they're going to keep me here. I don't think they will keep me overnight but they'll keep me until the afternoon at least."

"Don't be silly, what if the universe gets annoyed?"

Edward let out a huge laugh and then groaned, holding onto his chest. "Remind me never to laugh again. I'm so glad you're here. Although you look tired, did you get any sleep?"

"Probably, I'm not sure the night was such a blur," I admitted. "You know that hot guy at the grocery store? I went to his place; we had the best sex ever. All night."

"Liar," he said, but he didn't sound sure.

"Yeah," I laughed. "But I did manage to ride the subway, even if I didn't ride him."

"Urghh, Bella, I could've done without that image," he said disgusted, but he seemed a little relieved all the same. "Anyway, I knew you weren't having sex because there is no hot guy at the grocery store."

"And you've been looking have you?"

The morning was spent with easy banter until Edward was wheeled off for another scan. The doctors found that the internal bleeding had stopped some time ago, but they still wanted to keep him in for the night.

Edward however had other ideas.

"What are you doing?" I asked suspiciously. "I only left to go to the toilet, why do you look like you're planning something?"

"They're just self-discharge papers," Jasper explained.

"The doctors just want me in for observations, but there isn't really anything they can do for me, so there is no point staying over another night," Edward explained.

"Stay here, just in case," I said. "What if the bleeding starts again?"

"Bella don't worry," Edward said. "I'll be fine."

"You don't know that," I said. "Please stay."

Edward watched me for a minute, trying to read my face for something. He seemed to find it, as his expression cleared.

"Fine, but on one condition. You have to go back to our place, and get a good night's sleep. And don't think that because I'm not home, you can throw a wild party."

"I'm not in college and you're not my dad, but fine," I said, relieved that he had listened to me. "But I'll come get you tomorrow morning. Give me your car keys."

Jasper let out a low whistle, while Emmett said "She didn't."

"What?"

"Nothing," Edward said, glaring at them. "They're in my jacket pocket, but my car is still parked at Emmett's, could you pick it up from there please?"

"WHAT?" Emmett yelled. "_She's _allowed to drive the Volvo? You've never let me drive it! Do you like her better than me or something?"

"I'm actually a very likeable person," I said affronted.

"Bella, why don't you and the girls go back to my place and get something to eat," Emmett suggested. "You won't have to take a trip later to get the car either."

Jasper and Edward voiced their approval for the plan as well, and so I agreed.

We decided to get a cab back to Emmett's.

"I'm so sorry," I said, as soon as we sat down on his couch. "This is all my fault."

"Yes it is," Alice said coldly, surprising me. "If you hadn't run off, Edward wouldn't have felt the need to be out at that time, trying to find you."

"Alice!" Rosalie said. "Surely you're not blaming Bella for this! What Bella did was completely understandable, she just needed space! It's as much your fault as it is hers!"

"How is it my fault?" Alice shrieked.

I felt comforted by Rosalie defending me.

"Well if you hadn't run after him, those kids wouldn't have said anything and Edward wouldn't have had to protect his sister!" Rosalie yelled the last few words, and there was an awkward silence following them.

"Don't try to make me feel guilty about this Rose!" Alice said.

"It's not going to do Edward any good to sit and argue over it," I said. "I know I was at fault, and I'm sorry. I didn't return your calls and messages, and I'm really sorry for not being there when Edward needed me, but I can't do anything about it now."

"I don't get how you don't see how much Edward likes you," Alice said.

"Yeah," I laughed. "Edward likes _me_ of all people. Have you seen your brother? He looks like some freaking model, but he likes _me_ the pregnant, ex-whore plain Jane."

"Don't put yourself down Bella," Rosalie said. "You're not a plain Jane, and you had no other option but to work for James and you know it. So don't blame yourself for something that wasn't your fault. You're beautiful, you just don't understand."

"You are quite pretty," Alice said grudgingly. "Since I first saw you I've been jealous of your clear, porcelain skin and thick silky hair."

"And those doe eyes? Please honey, you're a heart breaker," Rosalie said.

"Easy for you two to say, you both look like you're fresh off a cover of Victoria Secret. Anyway, I'm getting tired of the whole 'let's make the fat, pregnant idiot feel good' game, let's watch a movie or something."

I left at around nine, exhausted after being awake for thirty six hours straight. I made my way straight over to Edward's bed and collapsed. It felt weird sleeping alone, as Edward normally came and slept in my bed but his bed smelt of him and I found myself falling into a deep and dreamless sleep.

The next morning I had the fastest shower of my life and made my way over the hospital bright and early. Edward's car was amazing to drive, it felt so smooth and sleek as it threaded effortlessly through the New York traffic. It was smaller than the car James had given me, and I had always felt so scared that I was going to crash that enormous hunk of metal.

I arrived at the hospital at seven. A bit early, but better early than late, right?

Edward was still asleep and I watched him sleep for a while. He looked much worse than yesterday, as the colour of the bruises had deepened to a rich plum with blueberry tinges around the outside, but he looked peaceful and was breathing easily.

I left his room briefly and went to talk to a doctor.

"As soon as he wakes up he will need some last obs doing, and then if they are okay he can leave," the doctor said. "There isn't anything else we can do for him; he just needs time to recover fully."

I went back to Edward's room and sat down in the chair, watching the news on the small TV.

Edward woke up around an hour later. "How long have you been here?"

"Not long," I said. "How are you feeling?"

"Like I got hit by a truck," he groaned. "When can I go?"

"The doctor said a nurse will be in to do your obs and then you can leave if they are okay. I'll get a nurse."

"Don't bother," he grinned, and pressed a button. "This is faster."

A nurse came rushing in. Her strawberry blonde hair was perfectly styled, her make-up carefully applied and the first few buttons of her dress were undone with her boobs trying to make a bid for freedom.

"Mr Cullen," she simpered, and I rolled my eyes. "Feeling better?"

"I was," he winked at me. "But now my head is beginning to hurt again."

She leant over him, sticking her massive boobs in his face as she reached for the blood pressure cuff, hanging from the monitor.

I coughed uncomfortably, hoping that she would take the hint.

"Excuse me," Edward said. "But you're hurting my chest by leaning on it like that."

"Oh," she giggled. She fucking _giggled. _"Sorry." She ran a hand down his chest.

"I wasn't aware that it took that long to get the machine over. Anyone would think you'd had to make the damned thing the amount of time you're spending," I said snippily. "Here."

I marched around the bed and wheeled it over to her.

"There you go," I said sweetly as she glared at me.

Edward simply continued to smirk at me as the nurse glared.

Finally she decided that he was ready to go.

"All set, you and your friend can go now," she said, slipping him a piece of paper and winking.

I'd bet anything that her number was on there.

"You're cute when you're jealous," Edward said once she had left.

"I wasn't jealous," I sniffed. "It was highly inappropriate. Here, I brought you some clean clothes to change into."

It took us a while to get down to the car; Edward could only move slowly and even that was causing him a ridiculous amount of pain.

"Do you need anything from the store? I think we have painkillers, but do you need clean bandages or anything?" I asked, trying to make conversation as I pulled out of the parking lot.

He shook his head. "They gave me some. I just want a long shower and to crash out on the couch."

"How come Esme and Carlisle didn't come to the hospital?" I asked curiously.

"We haven't told them yet," he replied simply. "Esme would go crazy with worry and Carlisle would be offering his own medical opinion and arguing with the doctors. I'm going to tell them in a couple of days, when I don't look so bad."

He leaned back in his seat and closed his eyes.

We didn't talk until we made it back to Edward's apartment. "I'll run you a bath," I said. "It'll be more soothing than a shower."

I poured half a bottle of my bubble bath into the hot water, and the bubbles began to flow over the side of the tub.

"Edward?" I called, popping my head into his bedroom.

He was sat on his bed in just his boxers, and I could see the full extent of what those kids had done. His sculpted chest and arms had impressive bruises and there were several cuts peppering his arms as well. His legs had a few large cuts; the kids must have kicked him many times, and hard.

He pulled himself up, and I turned around while he stripped and got into the bath, swearing and groaning loudly.

Once he was in, I began massaging his good shoulder, noting the grazes along his back.

"How much bubble bath did you put in here?" he chuckled. "People are going to be able to smell me from a mile off."

"It's a good job it smells nice then," I said, running my fingers through his hair and massaging his head. "Does your head still hurt?"

"Just a little," he said. "It's mainly my face and shoulder that hurt. How can girls sit in baths for an hour? I'm bored already, can I get out?"

"Nuh-uh."

"Uh-huh."

"No Edward, stay in for a bit, it'll help you relax and properly clean out your cuts," I said.

"Okay, I lied, so I'm going to come clean with you." He paused to laugh at his own pun. "It's not that I'm bored, the bubble bath is actually making my cuts sting," he admitted.

"That means that they are cleaning out nicely," I said.

I managed to get him to stay in there for another twenty minutes before I took pity on him and let him out. Plus, I was getting scared since his cuts were starting to look awfully red. I applied an antiseptic cream to them and helped him dress in some sweat pants and a loose t-shirt.

"Why are you smiling?" he asked.

"I'm just thinking about how this is exactly what you did for me, all those months ago. Now it's my turn to look after you," I said, kissing his temple without thinking about it. It just seemed natural.

Over the next few days, Edward was getting increasingly frustrated with the fact that he had to rely on me to help with the most menial tasks, tasks like washing and eating. Edward was such a man, and it was difficult for him to relinquish the independence that he so enjoyed, and have to rely on someone else for help.

A few days later, once the bruising had gone yellow, we were lying at opposite ends of the couch watching a movie. I decided that this was the time to bring up what had caused this whole thing in the first place; I didn't want to leave it to fester between us any longer than I had to.

"Edward?"

"Hmm?"

"Can we talk?"

He paused the movie and turned to face me. "It wasn't your fault."

"Not directly," I said. "But because of me you were out at that time. If I hadn't been so childish you wouldn't have had to come and find me."

"If anything it's my own fault. What I said to you was totally inexcusable, and I'm really sorry," he said, grabbing my hand. "It was a low comment, and it came out completely wrong. I didn't mean it like it sounded. I was referring to the fact that you decided to completely cut out your mother and wouldn't even listen to what she had to say."

"What?" I said shocked.

"It made me mad that your mom is still alive and trying to reach you, and you wouldn't give her a chance. I don't think that she would ring you unless it was important, and the day we went to visit her? She had something to say that day as well but chickened out from saying it to you. Some people don't have the luxury of talking to their real moms like that, and you do but won't take advantage of it."

I let out a relieved laugh. "I thought you were talking about James and that situation. That's all that I could think of, and it was making me crazy."

"I know," he said sadly. "I realised as soon as I spoke how badly I had phrased my point, but I didn't get a chance to explain it."

"When you grabbed hold of me, it reminded me suddenly of how James would grab me hard when he was mad at me," I said. "I just felt like I used to when I was his wife, that I didn't really have a place in the world, and all of those feelings just gathered together until I really _believed _that you were him for a moment, and it took me back to those days. All I could see was him next to me, not you. Does that make sense?" I asked, suddenly aware that I had been babbling.

Edward nodded. "I understand, you couldn't help it. The awful way I was talking to you was just how he used to talk, wasn't it?" I nodded slightly, and he swore. "Bella, I'm so, so sorry, I shouldn't have spoken to you in that way, especially after everything with James."

"I thought that was your real opinion of me," I said, looking down at my lap. "Just some whore who doesn't know anything about the world."

"What?" Edward sounded mad. "Bella, how could you even _think_ that I would think that of you? _Never _call yourself a whore. You made some choices that were difficult for you, but I respect you so much for them. You gave up everything for Renee without a second thought! And as for knowing nothing about the world? You are one of the wisest people I know. Honey, your choices made you the person that you are today sitting with me on this couch, and that is the person that I am so honoured to be friends with."

I let out a shaky breath. "Really?"

"Really. I was just so mad at the thought that you didn't want to live with me anymore, because honestly Bella? I love living with you, and I thought you felt that same. I couldn't bear the thought of not seeing you every day, and so I turned into a defensive ass and spoke callously and without thinking."

"Oh," I said, looking up. "In that case, would it be okay if I stayed with you?"

A breathtaking smile lit up his battered, but still handsome, face. "That would make me very happy. And hopefully the universe will stop being pissed off at us."

"Far be it for us to cause the universe grief. But I still want to sell the bakery," I said, as I moved to his side of the couch and wrapped my arms around his shoulders.

He rested his head against my shoulder and burrowed his face into my neck. "Anything you want, my love."

My heart skipped a few beats as the term of endearment seemed to slip out by itself; he didn't seem to have realised what he'd said. I ran my fingers through his wonderful bronze hair and he groaned, a low, sexy sound.

"If you keep doing that, I may never move off of you," he mumbled. I could hear the smile in his voice.

"That doesn't give me much incentive to stop now, does it?" I said playfully.

"What if I don't want you to stop?" He kissed my neck softly, an action which went straight downstairs, making me squirm.

I gently pulled his head up so that he was eye level with me, and put my hands either side of his face.

The puffiness around his eyes had gone down now, and they were almost back to their normal shape and size, only the bruises were left and even they were fading, and his split lip was healing up. Edward was almost back to his normal looking self.

His eyes widened ever so slightly as my face moved closer to his, and his pink tongue darted out and licked his top lip slowly, as his mouth curved into a smile. One of my hands skimmed his unshaven jaw, feeling the rough stubble beneath the pads of my fingers.

Slowly, I pressed my lips against his, and pulled away. He looked at me curiously, and then at my lips.

I pressed my lips to his again, and felt his move against mine softly. He had captured my bottom lip, and I hoped that he would never let go. His hand found my hair, and he pulled me even closer to him, holding me against him possessively. His soft lips tasted of pure, unadulterated _man_ and I felt my lips moving faster as our kiss became more heated.

His tongue swiped across my mouth and I willingly opened my mouth to let him in, as our kiss became a fight for dominance. I kneeled up over him, pushing against his chest lightly so that he was leaning against the arm rest beneath me, without breaking our kiss.

He pulled me _even_ closer until there was no space between us at all, and skimmed his hand down my back. His hand stole up under my shirt and played with my bra strap.

My hormones were going crazy for him, as he assaulted all of my senses. He filled my vision, his sexy moans filled my ears and I could smell his intoxicating scent. I could taste the sheer masculinity of him, and I could feel _every _goddamn inch of him pressing into me.

I broke away for air, and he kissed along my jaw and neck, making me moan embarrassingly until I caught his lips again.

"We should stop," he said, pulling away.

"But I don't want to," I pouted.

"Me neither," he smiled, sucking the crook of my neck, as he sat up again. "But we don't want to get carried away."

"Don't worry," I said huskily. "I'm on the pill; we should be fine in terms of protection."

He raised an eyebrow at my bump. "I see that."

I sighed and placed one final chaste kiss on his lips. He pulled me into his chest slowly, since his ribs were still quite bruised, and I nestled my head against his good shoulder, as his arm encircled me. I held onto his hand with both of mine, intertwining our fingers.

I found that the huge grin on my face just would not shift.

"I'm so glad we're back to normal," I sighed, inhaling his heavenly scent.

"Normal?" he grinned crookedly. "This is so much better than we were before."

* * *

**Aww, a little bit of cutsie fluffiness to finish on! A kiss is always nice, right?**

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